The Haihe International Consumption Summit in Tianjin recently highlighted new opportunities for international consumption under the “dual-circulation” development plan, in which domestic and overseas markets reinforce each other, with the domestic market as the mainstay. China’s consumption market has created unlimited opportunities for enterprises, Jasmine Xu, Chairwoman and CEO of P&G Greater China, said at the Tianjin summit.
In July, the central government chose Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing and Guangzhou to take the lead to become international consumption centers. The five recently unveiled a series of measures and will carry out specific projects to implement the plan. “I believe China will be able to leverage the fundamental role of domestic consumption in economic development and foster a more robust and domestic market to boost growth at home and create more room for global growth,” said Ian McGarrigle, Founder and Chairman of the World Retail Congress.
With a population of over 1.4 billion, including a middle-income group of over 400 million that keeps expanding, China offers a supersized market which will create new opportunities for global consumption markets, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao said at the Summit. Currently, individuality and the shopping experience are becoming more important. “China is one of the largest and most sophisticated consumer markets in the world, and we are very committed to China and to Chinese consumers. We are investing to improve and expand our operations and we are investing in innovative new products and services, all with a view to meeting Chinese consumers’ desire to have a better life,” said David Taylor, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of P&G. Dan Friis, Co-founder of the Bestseller Fashion Group China said his company achieved 100% localization since 1998 and spent all the time in the Chinese consumption market to understand Chinese consumers. “There have been so many opportunities in China all these years,” Friis said.
Liu Hui, Director of the JD Research Institute for Consumption and Industrial Development, said the number of international brands and products on JD has continued to grow in recent years. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said China’s retail sales of consumer goods in the first three quarters totaled around CNY31.8 trillion, up 16.4% year-on-year. Wang Wei, Director General of the Institute of Market Economy, said building Chinese cities into international consumption centers is conducive to fostering new growth poles in promoting stable economic growth, and leading the momentum in global consumption, the China Daily reports.
