China Herald: Consumer confidence

Showing posts with label Consumer confidence. Show all posts

Friday, February 12, 2016

Consumer spending, even more room for growth - Sara Hsu

Sara Hsu

Many growth indexes in China might point south, consumer spending is one of the few that might indicate government policies might be working, writes financial analyst Sara Hsu in the Diplomat. Americans still consume per capita 53 times more goods and services than Chinese, so there is much room to growth, she says.

Sara Hsu:

It should be noted that both retail and online sales of consumer goods are growing. While still not as strong as year-on-year growth in 2011 and 2012, growth has been close to or above 10 percent. Consumption is becoming an ever-more important component of GDP, now weighing in at or above half (depending on the period of measurement). Consumer-oriented listed companies have enjoyed rising profitability. Consumer confidence remains relatively high and above the baseline level of 100.

Brick-and-mortar shops are selling, but in some cases appear to be losing turf to online retailers. Through both government and private promotion, e-commerce has been boosted. Alibaba is the leader in online retailing, helped by the variety of products it offers at competitive prices. Alibaba’s Taobao, now a household name, has even launched campaigns to nudge Chinese farmers to sell through the website, which would go a long way to clinching the rural market. Consumers are also increasingly using digital payment systems for online purchases, revealing higher trust in online security than before.

Sales of everyday goods are performing well, while luxury goods continue to lag due to the government corruption crackdown on purchases of high-end goods and uncertain economic expectations. Luxury cars, Swiss watches, upscale brand name goods, and expensive spirits have all experienced poor results on the Mainland in recent months. Despite this, in some overseas locations, such as Japan, luxury sales to Chinese shoppers have increased, and online international sales of luxury goods to China have also risen.

Aspirational luxury goods are increasingly marketed to a brand-conscious middle class. National holidays such as Chinese New Year have brought with them a surge in consumption. In the lead-up to this Chinese New Year, Alibaba experienced a spike in online transactions starting in late January. Clothing, food, appliances, and digital products were among the most popular goods purchased.

While Americans continue to consume, per capita, 53 times more goods and services than the Chinese, consumption appears to remain healthy in China. The urbanization process continues apace, unemployment remains stable, and incomes have risen, creating the perfect storm for raising living standards through purchases of white goods and other consumer products. So, while black goods are down, white goods are up. It looks like one major policy goal, to drive up consumption, is being met.

More in the Diplomat.

Sara Hsu is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

Are you looking for more financial experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Strong economy, no stimulus needed now - Shaun Rein

Against many predictions, China´s economy is doing relatively well and business analyst Shaun Rein does not see the need for a stimulus to fire up growth now, he tells CNBC.

Shaun Rein:

The key is that a lot of analysts have said that the Chinese economy was in a downturn and there were fears like Lehman (like crisis). That is not going to happen anytime soon. The Q1 of GDP growth at 7.4 percent leading almost all of the expectations from Wall Street and the key areas, that is, wage growth and employment number continue to remain very strong. The government is going to get nervous if people are getting unemployed and that is not happening and consumer confidence is up which also beats expectation. So, overall positive numbers but the economy is still in a fairly fragile phase...
I have always argued that China shouldn’t and wouldn’t put together a big stimulus in next one to two month period. The economy is bad but it is not that bad and as the number show today. The government has another quarter or so to try to put (in place) major economic reforms to sort of reign in monetary policy, reign in non performing loans before you are going to see any type of stimulus because the economy is still growing. We see the industrial production drop but that is a good thing because the government is trying to push the country away from heavy investment-oriented growth more towards consumer oriented growth which we saw today getting retail fell, which is good. I do not expect stimulus anytime soon in a major way.

More at CNBC.

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

Are you a media representative and do you want to talk to one of our speakers? Do drop us a line.

Friday, October 18, 2013

Confidence back in China's economy - Shaun Rein

+Shaun Rein

Consumer confidence is back on track, and investors see China again as a safe haven, argues business analyst Shaun Rein on Bloomberg TV. Consumers are spending money again, after the government made small, but significant moves to shore up confidence.

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

China weekly Hangout

China is preparing for a new bout of bird flu. In Zhejiang the first victim was infected with the H7N9 virus, and chicken farms are preparing for the upcoming new year, meaning more risks. The +China Weekly Hangout is on Thursday 24 October discussing with bird flu expert Harm Kiezebink how you can prepare you and your company when the bird flu pandemic hits China.
You can register here to participate, or read the full announcement here.

Ambiguity is the word Beijing-based lawyer +Gary Chodorow uses most when talking about the new visas in China, officially in place since September 1, at the +China Weekly Hangout, shortly after the new system kicked of. What to do with spouses, interns, people with F-visas and other visitors who are not allowed to work. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra of the China Speakers Bureau.