Females in China: Beyond the Headline Numbers
Last Thursday, China's State Council Information Office (SCIO) published a white paper: Equality, Development and Sharing: Progress of Women's Cause in 70 Years Since New China's Founding. "The founding of the PRC in 1949 ushered in a new era for women in China, changing their social status from an oppressed and enslaved group in the past thousands of years to masters of their own fate..." the paper began.
The report praised female workers' participation in China. Its female labour force now numbers 340 million - twice as many as when China opened up in 1979, counting a much larger share working in the industry and service sectors. Participation in education was also celebrated, with females making up 52.5% of Chinese in higher education. Similarly, a women's average life expectancy - standing at 79.4 years in 2015 - has grown 10.1 years since 1981 and a whopping 42.7 years since 1949.
Nevertheless, not everyone is applauding China's progress for gender equality. A similar report released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) noted China’s Global Gender Gap rank fell sharply from 63rd out of 115 countries in 2006, to 103rd out of 149 countries based on 2018 data. One of the contributors was China's female-to-male ratio of 87:100 at birth, ranking China last out of 149 countries surveyed.
Contradictory to the SCIO's study, the WEF noted female participation in the labour force had dropped from around 80% in the 1980s, to 68.6% last year. Although this was slightly higher than the US and similar to Japan, it was contrary to other major 'developing' countries such as Brazil and South Africa. 19% of China's national civic service jobs posted in 2018 included requirements such as “men only,” “men preferred,” or “suitable for men.”
The income gap between urban male and female workers increased from 15% in 1990 to 25% in 2000. This disparity has persisted over the last two decades. A 2018 poll reported that Chinese women on average earn 22% less than their male co-workers, ranking China 74th globally in wage equality. Women account for just 17% of senior managers, officials, and legislators - although Japan is even worse at 13%.
The WEF report did highlight some areas that China deserves due praise. Much like the SCIO noted, since 2008, women have been more likely than men to continue onto higher education, ranking it number 1 in gender balance for tertiary education. Unfortunately the top universities are still skewed towards males. In 2018, the share of female students at top-ranking Tsinghua was 34% and third-ranked Zhejiang was 21%, with Fudan being the only university in the top-6 with more females (51:49).
Entrepreneurship stands as one area where Chinese women take a leading role. A 2017 WEF study found that women set up 55% of new internet companies in China, and women accounted for more than a quarter of all entrepreneurs overall. The 2018 Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs also ranked China 29th out of more than 60 countries surveyed, just behind countries like Germany (23rd) and France (24th).
Whilst much the data isn't great, beyond the reports, China's educated, entrepreneurial and adventurous female consumers are very much a force to be reckoned with. In most cases, they are more open to international lifestyles and products than their male peers.
Females accounted for two-thirds of cross border commerce spending, and those who drink beer consume a proportionately higher amount of foreign brands than their male counterparts. Whereas men buy virtually all of the expensive sports cars in most markets, Chinese women purchase almost half of exotic luxury cars such as Maserati and Porsches. They account for the majority of Chinese athletes performing on a global level, even in traditionally-male sports such as football, rugby and the UFC. In 2018, 58% of females travelled independently - 16% more than their male counterparts. They also spent 14% more than males while travelling. Chinese female students are also more likely to study abroad than their male peers. In 2014, women accounted for 51% of Chinese students studying in the US and 63% of those in the UK.
In short, Chinese females are a very important customer for most foreign brands and worth understanding and connecting with. We noted last week about how well Nike connects with confident and assertive Chinese females. Another well-cited example is SK-II's Leftover Women campaign which resonated with the valuable demographic, and had a halo effect with others too. We could go on... but the moral of the story is understanding Chinese females beyond the headline numbers of white papers is imperative to connecting with them and winning their favour. China Skinny can help you do just that.
China Skinny's office will be closed next week for the Golden Week holiday, but we'll be back in the second week of October. For our Shanghai-based readers in town after the holiday, China Skinny's Mark Tanner is sharing insights about engaging consumers at the maXcomm Shanghai 2019 on Thursday 17 October, organised by the German Chamber - we hope to see you there. More info here.
Here are this week's news and highlights for China:
Chinese Consumers
China Focus: China Publishes White Paper on Progress of Women's Cause in 70 Years: Women accounted for 40% of China's labour force in 2017 - 340 million - double the figure in 1979. In 2010, 46.8% of women worked in industry and service sectors, up 24.8% points from 1982. In 2017, girls accounted for 47.7% of high school students, and 52.5% in higher education - 28.4 percentage points higher than in 1978. Here's a link to download the full report (a word doc) here.
Do Women in China Face Greater Inequality than Women Elsewhere?: China’s ranking in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Gender Gap Index fell sharply from 63rd out of 115 countries in 2006 to 103rd out of 149 countries in 2018, based on parity with males, not overall achievement. The lingering effects of the One-Child Policy and the longstanding cultural “son bias” have contributed to a female-to-male ratio of 87:100 at birth, ranking China last out of 149 countries surveyed by the WEF. In rural areas the ratios are less than 80:100, although some baby girls may be hidden from authorities.
Infographic: The TV Ads that Connect in China: Brands are increasingly using brand placements to create more engaging advertising on TV in China, from innovative banners to humorous, but blatant promotions.
Shenzhen in World’s Top 10 Financial Centres for First Time Since 2010 while Hong Kong Stays in Third Place Just Behind London: Southern boomtown Shenzhen jumped five places to rank in the top 10 global financial centres according to a semi-annual survey from the China Development Institute and the London think tank Z/Yen Partners. Hong Kong moved closer to London as concerns over Brexit mount, with HK, NYC and Singapore expected to benefit from Brexit. After the top-2 places, New York and London, the next seven - Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, Tokyo, Beijing, Dubai and Shenzhen - were all in Asia. 10th place Sydney virtually is too.
‘Rental Tigers’ Advertised Ahead of Chinese Holiday: The decline of China’s once-thriving animal circus industry has given rise to short-term leasing services. As Golden Week approaches, the prices of some surprising animals available for rent have nearly quadrupled — with leasing a tiger for the holiday week costing up to ¥60,000 ($8,500). Small-sized animals such as songbirds, wallabies, ostriches, and racoons tend to be most popular. Bigger animals — lions, tigers, bears, eagles, get a little more complex and require trainers. Animals are used in exhibitions, private gatherings, or business openings to liven up the ambience.
Digital China
WeChat Upgrades Advertising in Order to Fight Douyin/Tik Tok: WeChat's advertising growth rate dropped from 25% YOY to 16% from Q1 to Q2 2019. WeChat is hoping to arrest this decline with a better offering such as: 1. WeChat Mini-program video advertising; 2. Adding new social information into banner ads; 3. More complex navigation within interstitial ads; and 4. Much more competitively and accessibly-priced ads.
Apple’s Brand in China Takes a Hit From Backlash Against Trump: Apple tumbled to No. 24 in Prophet's annual report on China’s top brands, falling from No. 11 a year ago. In 2017, before the trade war started, Apple was fifth in this ranking. Meanwhile, Huawei climbed two spots and came in second, behind only Chinese payment service Alipay. There were only two American names in the top ten this year - Android at No. 3 and Intel at No. 9 - compared to five in the 2017 survey.
How Esports, Mobile, and Women are Shaping the future of China's games market: Chinese gamers are most interested in completion — the appeal of collecting points/stars/trophies, completing quests/achievements/tasks; and competition — the appeal of duels, arena matches, and leaderboard rankings. ESports is expected to be one of the biggest opportunities in China's gaming ecosystem. Mobile esports will precipitate a shift from a limited number of high-profile, spectator-focused esports productions toward a much larger number of open tournaments carried out regionally and locally. The total number of women mobile gamers is roughly 40% in China and has been growing rapidly. The indie games scene in China is growing thanks to platforms such as Steam and WeGame.
Food & Beverage
China: "Online Store Gives a Boost to Our Organic Vegetable Sales": 30% of organic products currently supplied by supermarkets are imported and 70% are locally produced. Hiu Fung offers vegetables in small packages so people can combine salads themselves, rather than pre-mixed packs which often contain products that are not liked.
One Year On from the First ASF Outbreak, Where is China's Pork Industry Heading?: 156 separate outbreaks have been confirmed, covering 107 cities across 31 provinces. In other words, all provinces in mainland China, together with Hong Kong, have now reported instances of the virus. China’s hog inventories are slumping while pork prices soar; imported pork is growing and alternative meat categories are diversifying; and pork's contributing to the rising CPI is seeing a constant stream of new policies.
Chinese Tourists
The Hipster Tour Groups Winning Over Chinese Millennials: Matching hats and megaphones are out, and midnight bonfires are in, as China’s travel industry adapts to a new generation of tourists.
Where are Chinese Tourists Going if They’re Giving Protest-Hit Hong Kong a Miss? Singapore benefitted more than any other country from the fallout of tourism to HK, with nearly 390,000 travellers from mainland China paying a visit in July this year, up almost 46% from June. 18.5% more Mainlanders visited Macau in July compared to the same month last year. Chinese visitors to the Philippines surged 43%. While for August, Thailand saw an 18% rise and Vietnam had a 12.4%. Australia hasn't fared so well, in spite of a lower dollar, Chinese tourists to Australia grew at just 1% over the past 12-months - its slowest growth in nine years. Similarly, higher education enrolments in the country grew at 0.6%, down from 6.4% a year ago.
Education
School Software Sparks Privacy Worries: Under the guise of student safety, schools and parents have begun using AI facial recognition and positioning technology to monitor student behaviour. But in doing so, they have triggered widespread privacy concerns.
Luxury
The Rise of China’s Girl Boss — Luxury’s Newest Target: China’s girl-boss generation looks for balance when it comes to power looks. Living in a traditionally male-dominated country at an entrepreneurial zeitgeist, these women want designs that accentuate both professional poise and femininity. That’s because, so far, it’s the best way to make it as a Chinese girl boss.
That’s the Skinny for the week!
