China: Shifts in consumption patterns at home and overseas

@ Chatham House, Thursday 12 November

This was the last in our current series of China-focused, business-to-business panel-led events held in partnership with Chatham House and Schmittzehe & Partners China Advisory. Madame Jiang Fan, Minister Councillor - Commerce, Embassy of the PRC added great value to the event as she introduced the topic by giving her insight into the state of the consumer market in China.

Our excellent panellists presented the topic with great depth of knowledge and from different perspectives to give a broad overview of the dynamics of the China market. Feedback from the participants was very positive including "fantastic and highly educational" and "it was really worth coming to!"

Jasper Becker, author and journalist, uncovered the pitfalls of understanding the demographics of China's urbanisation and therefore the ability to guage effectively the reality of the size of China's urban consumer market. He illuminated the population shrinkage within a generation of many urban areas due to the one-child policy; the race for urbanisation on a Western economy model and posed the question as to who captures the real wealth in China. In his cosy style, Jasper indicated that although "purchasing power [in China] was over-rated" the Chinese government expects the urbanisation figure to reach the 70% mark at some stage, (currently at 40%) making it comparable with other Western economies. He spoke of trends in shifts in social services rather than goods and that areas are becoming designated "urban" without the structures being adapted and developed to accommodate the reality. He highlighted the one-child generation and that they will very soon experience financial obligations in welfare care for a large number of relatives that will have an impact on their spending power. 
 
Benjamin Schmittzehe, CEO, Schmittzehe & Partners, focused on the attitudes and propensity to spend of different demographic groups in China, across generational divides including the Young Urban Woman to migrant families .

Eric Thun, Peter Moore's Lecturer, Said Business School, University of Oxford, spoke with authority as he uncovered the thorough examination of the battle to secure the "Middle Market" where the greatest growth opportunities lie for both foreign and domestic companies alike and "where the interesting dynamics are taking place." Through his highly animated delivery of his subject matter and the visually stimulating slides that accompanied his expose, Eric also emphasised the "Battle at the Bottom" for market share in low-end goods. Interestingly, he noted that, when looking at sales figures between 2001-2009 in the key sectors that he highlighted,  China joining WTO in 2001 actually served to liberalise and increase the local market to the benefit of both domestically-owned and foreign companies.

The event was chaired by Dr Kerry Brown, Senior Fellow, Chatham House in his usual, incisive and engaging style.

Panel presentations are available below for download.

Track: Benjamin Schmittzehe Artist: Panellist 1

   

Track: Eric Thun Artist: Panellist 2

  

Track: Jasper Becker Artist: Panellist 3

  

Next Business-to-Business panel event: Earning you share of Stomach in China, 01 December

Highly educational, panel-led case study event, using up-to-the-minute research on the Food & Drink sector in China, this is a must for senior executives in the field already familiar with the China market. Keynote speaker is James Bruce, recently returned to the UK after a decade in China as VP Finance, Unilever China.
For more details and to book please CLICK HERE.

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Do get in touch at business@chopsticksclub.com and we will let you know about our future, educational, business-to-businness events. Alternatively, click here to see our current programme of events.