130+ countries and regions

270,000+ square metres exhibition area

3000+ business and organisations exhibitors

200+ World Top 200 enterprises

100+ events, seminars and activities

On 5th November 2018, the China International Import Expo kicked started her 5 days massive trade show which is expected to be even bigger than the World Expo Shanghai in 2010. The CIIE was proposed and announced by the Chinese President Xi in 2017. It is viewed by some observors as a counter measure for China response to US led Trade War, by promoting China’s market and replacing products formely imported from the US with products imported from other countries.

President Xi of China delivered a key speech at the opening ceremony of the First China International Import Expo, CIIE in Shanghai on Monday.

Here are the highlights of the speech which represent the highest level of China  ‘s attitude towards global trade strategy.

“The Chinese economy is a sea, not a pond. Storms can overturn a pond, but never a sea.”

More opening-up

The China International Import Expo is a “trail-blazing” move in the history of international trade development. The CIIE is the first-ever import-themed national-level expo.Economic globalization is an irreversible historical trend and provides strong momentum for the world economic development. All countries should be committed to opening-up and oppose protectionism and unilateralism in a clear-cut stand. All countries should stick to innovation and accelerate the transition with traditional growth drivers being replaced by new ones. All countries should uphold the principle of inclusive development and shared benefits, in order to realize common development.

China will not close its door to the world and will only become more and more open.

Measures to promote opening-up

1. Imports

China’s initiative to expand imports is not a makeshift, but long-term consideration of embracing the world and future while promoting common development.

2. Market access

China’s imported goods and services are estimated to exceed $30 trillion and $10 trillion, respectively, in the next 15 years.

Measures announced in April to relax market access have been so far implemented. China has further simplified negative list of foreign investment, reduced investment limits and lifted the level of free investment.

China is taking solid steps to expand financial opening-up, continue to advance opening-up in the service sector, deepen opening-up in agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and accelerate the opening-up process of sectors including telecommunications, education, medical treatment and culture.

3. Business environment

Every country should strive to improve their own business environment and solve their own problems.

4. Free trade port

China will speed up the exploration of the building of free trade ports with Chinese characteristics.

5. Multilateral, bilateral cooperation

China will push forward multilateral and bilateral cooperation in pursuit of development.

China’s economic prospects

A fully optimistic attitude can be held toward the prospects of China’s economic development.

The Chinese economy is a sea, not a pond. Storms can overturn a pond, but never a sea.

Shanghai’s role in opening up

China will give better play to the important role of Shanghai and other regions in opening up.

Sources: chinadaily.com.cn/Xinhua

About WeChat apply

WeChat apply is an award winning China WeChat digital marketing agency based in Sydney.Working across all aspects of the marketing solutions like WeChat promotion, WeChat Official Account Registration, WeChat KOL, WeChat Mini Program Ad. and so on, we will ensure you have a solid marketing strategy together with perfectly delivered campaigns. Wechat apply  will transform your China online marketing to increase your lead generation, brand awareness and market engagement.

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The 8^th August every year is the National Fitness Day for China. 2018’s one is the 10 year anniversary since the setup of the National Fitness Day. Variety of national fitness activities have taken places throughout the country to encourage more people to join the national fitness program. In the past, people are showing off food and selfies, it is now more of fashion to show off the hiking routes, running maps and real-time competitions at WeChat friends moment. The sports and fitness lovers have integrated their sports and fitness hobbies into their travels, greatly enriching their travel experience.

Fitness tourism is the most popular

According to a report by Donkey Mum Travel Network that in the first half of 2018, the number of people who chose sports tour products increased significantly, which was about 24% higher than the same period in 2017. 2018’s World Cup in Russia pushed Chinese sports tourism to a new peak. During the tournament, more than 100,000 Chinese tourists traveled to Russia.

In sports tourism, fitness related is the most popular category, accounting for 70% of the total Chinese visitors; the extreme sports account for 20%, and game watching is 10%. Fitness tourism represented by

Bushwalking, mountain hiking, bike riding are widely welcomed most of the tourists and have become the main stream fitness activity nation-wide because these activities are experience oriented, relatively low cost, easy to participate. According to the data of the mother, the number of fitness trips in the first half of this year increased by 35% compared with the same period of last year, and the public’s awareness of fitness increased

The data shows that Mountain attractions such as Huang Mountain黄山,Mount Tai泰山, Mount Heng衡山, Mount Emei 峨眉山and Tianmen Mountain天门山 are the most scenic spots for hikers. Participants’ age group spread out from primary school students to the retired elderly. They all participate in the love of the majority of tourists.

Sports tourism is growing rapidly and has great potential

With the enhancement of people’s physical fitness awareness and the enthusiasm for sports events, the market for sports tourism has expanded year on year.

According to the forecast released by the National Tourism Administration, by 2020, the total number of Chinese sports tourists will reach 1 billion, accounting for 15% of the total number of Chinese tourists, they are expected to spend over 1 trillion yuan (200billion Australian dollars) yearly.

With the rise of the middle class, China’s tourism pattern has been shifting from traditional sightseeing to combined tourism model that takes into consideration leisure and fitness.

In recent years, China has vigorously developed sports industries, and sports facilities and conditions have been greatly improved. The infrastructure improvements have paved the pass ways for the rapid growth of fitness tourism. Zhao Yong, deputy director of the State Sports General Administration, said that accelerating the development of the sports tourism industry is a key measure to implement the Strategy of Nationwide Fitness, promote people’s livelihood and increase people’s happiness level.

Australian or foreign brands should seize the opportunity of this round of growth.

Celebrities are massively influential, however, it could backfire and hurt the sponsoring brands, particularly we have seen some backslashes historically. The latest backslahs was a headline news Swisse had to suspended the sponsorship of Fanbingbing, Chinese highest paid actress after she confessed to paying a huge tax bill in this October. Brands do need to be cautious of the risk to engage those high price asking celebrities under China’ current tensed political attitude towards the entertainment industry.

While selecting sports and fitness stars to work together on a Big Health or National Fitness Concept is what Chinese central and local authorities are welcoming. It is not only politically right but also it fits in Chinese market organic demand of combined lifestyles of leisure and fitness.

Compared with millions of dollars commitment fees for those sky-high pricy entertainment stars, those Chinese Sports and fitness famous are a really good value for money with everything welcomed by the market.

Want to find your perfect matching Sports or fitness famous to represent your brand to attract the massive consumer crowds? Come on to talk to us.

About WeChat apply

WeChat apply is an award-winning China WeChat digital marketing agency based in Sydney. Working across all aspects of the marketing solutions like WeChat promotion, WeChat Official Account Registration, WeChat KOL, WeChat Mini Program Ad. and so on, we will ensure you have a solid marketing strategy together with perfectly delivered campaigns. Wechat apply  will transform your China online marketing to increase your lead generation, brand awareness, and market engagement.

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2018 China GDP September quarter was reported at 6.5% growth rate, significantly slower than the average rate of the past 30 years. Retail shopping has slowed with it. The stock market is slumping. China’s currency has lost some of its value. The trade war launched by US President Trump has left many Chinese feeling less optimistic than before. Anxiety, aging issues, sky-high housing prices are among the frequently referenced terms.

Welcome to China’s “consumption downgrade”,  a potentially worrisome development for Beijing and the world. For years, the conversations in China were about “consumption upgrades”. As the economy took off, China’s middle class — now more than 400 million strong and still growing —  spent those bigger paychecks. It traded up from local brands to Nikes, from cheap phones to iPhones, from tea to $5 Starbucks lattes. Not to mention those security guarded long queues in front of Chanel Louis Vuitton and Gucci stores in Hongkong, Europe, and Australia.

Multiple aspects of consumption downgrade 

There isn’t a universally agreed definition about the term among Chinese media and business landscape. There are indeed some aspects of consumers behavior change.

Buy cheap to save money. Consumers choose the products with cheap price and average quality. Taking a comparative example here in Australia, A mum may be more inclined to take one dollar bottle water Woolworth’s brand water off the supermarket shelf than two-dollar Mount Franklin bottled water. In this scenario, the quality level drops as prices drop.

Be selective on what to spend what not.  Economic conditions are not ideal, people have to be more diligent on living expenditure, choose cut consumption items, or be selective on what to and what not to. For example, those “monthly emptiness”, referring the people running out their money before their next salary pay, may not turn up at a friend gathering of spending over 150RMB, 30 dollars. In this scenario, experience level drops as prices drop.

Consuming concept changes. Some consumers are no longer have the strong willing to pay a premium price for premium brands. Interestingly, this kind of mindset shift occurs after the increase of living standard. Initially, consumers are not used to or have not purchased those premium brand products, they believed the pricier the better. Until they realized that quality of premium priced product and mid-level priced product are not much different. Therefore they changed their mindset and are more inclined to make purchases of higher quality-price ratio. Coach bags have gained much more growth comparing with Chanel bags in China for the last 24 months.

Consumers buy in different ways.  Consumers would buy in group purchase model to gain an advantage of low price thanks to the mobile app technology which is making the group purchase with anonymous people a no-brainer task.

Winners of Consumer Downgrade

Consumption downgrade is a change in the buying structure, habit and shopping concept for some consumers not for everyone. However, it is not that scary as it may sound to brands and manufacturers. It occurs at the same time while some customers are upgrading.

On the flip side, consumption downgrade creates massive commercial opportunities, especially for China’s hugely populated market. Who are the winners in the wave of consumption downgrade?

Pin Duo Duo, a group buy APP.

Pinduoduo is a group buy App,  users can launch group buys with friends, families, workmates or neighbors or even the people unknown, to buy stuff at cheaper prices. Pinduoduo’s daily active users, daily transactions surpassed JD.com, becoming the 2nd largest Chinese eCommerce platform next to Alibaba.

65% of Pinduoduo sales come from regional areas and 3^rd tiered cities and below where 50% JD.com’s sales come from 1^st and 2^nd tier cities.

To most city dwellers, it is a comprised action to cope with ever-increasing economic pressure by shopping on Pinduoduo. While those consumers in rural areas have benefited from gaining cheap, affordable access to a variety of products offered across the country which would have been impossible without Pinduoduo’s group buy model.

MINISO fast fashion store chain.  While you probably like shopping in 2 dollar stores in Australia for Halloween, Christmas or birthday party gigs, China’s counterparts have gone far massive scales. MINISO is known to sell a majority of its products priced at 10 RMB. The brand expanded to 2000 stores in China within 3 years, sales reaching 10 billion RMB, 2 billion Australian dollars.  It is a legendary record in the retail industry. 50% of their 5000 categories of product are priced under 10 RMB.

Many companies are trying to grab the commercial opportunities driven by so-called “ the era of consumption downgrade”.

Conclusion

Chinese consumers are now away from a single-minded direction. It can be complicated, it can be a mix both consumer upgrade and consumption downgrade, and even in different dimensions.

We have heard optimistic comments made by marketing peers and some Australia brands that that mid-class, residents in tier 1 and tier 2 cities and post 90, and post 2000, they are in the process of consumer upgrade, so they are going to welcome foreign goods, particularly Australian consumers goods are highly appreciated. This insight is only partially true, idealism and romantic. Simply putting up a shingle and yelling your brand offers Australian premium made product hoping to have people lined up to pay a higher price, has become a naive imagination.

Australian businesses need to put in more effort to dig further about Chinese consumers behaviors and reconsider the core of business: to provide value, scalable and affordable product and services to your customers. We, WeChat Apply team are the specialized experts who know what’s happening in China with first-hand insights, feel free to get in touch with us.

About WeChat apply

WeChat apply is an award-winning China WeChat digital marketing agency based in Sydney. Working across all aspects of the marketing solutions like WeChat promotion, WeChat Official Account Registration, WeChat KOL, WeChat Mini Program Ad. and so on, we will ensure you have a solid marketing strategy together with perfectly delivered campaigns. Wechat apply  will transform your China online marketing to increase your lead generation, brand awareness, and market engagement.

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Mum and Child market in China has been top hunter-fields for those overseas brands in the health sector. putting extra fuel in the fire, China as a whole nation is promoting Big Health strategy. Post-90s, a Chinese way to label those who were born after 1990, have entered the birth-giving age range. What is the trend of China’s Mum and Child consumption market?

In recent years, China’s population suffers declining newborn numbers and ratios,

while new births are not obvious after abolishing one child policy 3 years ago, and any birth stimulation measures will not take effect in short term.

While young families are more and more hesitant to raise more than 1 child due to complex reasons, Parents do really have stronger willing and financial ability to spend more on high quality for their sole child.

China consumer market appears stable, Mum and Child market continues to grow 

According to the data released by the China Statistics Bureau, the Consumer Confidence Index for the 1st quarter of 2018 was 115, and by the 2nd quarter of 2018, the figure was 113. Despite a slight decline, the overall trend was stable. In 2016, China’s Mum and Child market grew by only 3.9%. In 2017, it reached 123.3 billion yuan, an increase of 11% year-on-year. As researchers are talking more about consumer downgrade trend in wider sectors in China’s economy, consumption upgrade and the acceptance of new products are the two core drivers for the sales of Mum and Child consumer goods.

Compared with other matured markets, China’s per capita consumption of Mum and Child consumer goods remains at a low level with a large room for growth. In baby formula sector, the consumption per capita is in the US is 7 times more, France is 2.2 times more and Spain is 1.4 times more than China’s.

More high-end consumptions, led by post-90s mums

According to Nielsen’s research, the proportion of sales of cheap products in Mum and Child consumer goods categories has been decreasing; mid to high priced products are significantly growing. Post 90s’ consuming characteristics are reshaping Mum and Child market.  They want to try new, value their own personality. Their purchases are more ignited by environment and surrounding. They are tech passionate, service oriented. These are their key points of difference from their previous generations.

The brands knowing their post 90s customers characters have used New product launch as their key driver of the sales growth with systematically planned and executed marketing activation campaigns.  They try to match their consumer’s demand with the new concepts such as gut caring, organic certified. these hot spots are where the future growth comes from.

In 2018 We have seen an accelerated trend of new products releasing from Australian Child former makers’ camp. Nestle, Bayer, Wattle Health, Aptamil, A2, Bubs, all of which have launched their new product series in the year targeting the post 90s mums and to-be mums. In particular, A2 has been focusing on an organic concept with a carpet sweep style advertising campaign both in Australia and in China. Their premium baba formula market share has improved significantly.

Online and offline integration is the trend

According to Nielsen data, the growth rate of brick & mortar Mum and Child stores has maintained a double-digit growth with 13% in 2015, 10% in 2016 and 11% in 2017. However, the fragmentation characteristics of the Mum and Child stores lead to fierce competition and short life cycle.

The advantage of the offline Mother and Child stores are their experience and professionalism. They provide consumers with a one-stop service with a full range of categories, fine environment, and personal warm assistance. At the same time, the current online channels also have the advantages of being conveniently accessible, price comparability and richness of marketing means. The amalgamation of online and offline is the trend of the industry.

For baby formula products, genuine quality and safety is two undebatable priorities for a brand to survive in China market. Utilizing WeChat moment ad, banner ad, online store voucher, drive online traffic to the physical stores, convert office customers to be the loyal and repeating customers by offering online content engagement and interesting online theme campaigns.

Key influencer testimonials, live streaming on a brand event, WeChat content push message, WeChat moment sharing, user experience share at e-Commerce sites,  all of these have been influencing consumers behaviors,

Conclusion

Chinese consumers in Mum and Baby sector have become more mature as purchase capability increasing, which helps to fire up sales growth and expansion of premium segment. The market still has a good space to grow. WeChat is one of the key gateway connecting brick & mortar stores and online world. Manufacturing brands need to make effective WeChat presence, making sure their WeChat assets continue to bring value to the supply chain and supporting your resellers, paving well distribution network, adding more consumer value when building and growing your China brand and market share.

Talk to us about how to make most value out of your WeChat assets today.

About WeChat apply

WeChat apply is an award winning China WeChat digital marketing agency based in Sydney.Working across all aspects of the marketing solutions like WeChat promotion, WeChat Official Account Registration, WeChat KOL, WeChat Mini Program Ad. and so on, we will ensure you have a solid marketing strategy together with perfectly delivered campaigns. Wechat apply  will transform your China online marketing to increase your lead generation, brand awareness and market engagement.

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