China’s Double 11 consumer festival has kicked off for its longest edition ever with five weeks. Consumption expert Ashley Dudarenok looks at this year’s trends for Campaign Asia. Dudarenok, author and China digital expert predicts that countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, and South Korea—now part of the “free shipping zone”—will see a sharp rise in new users.Read More →

Customer centricity is key in a competitive markets, more than customer friendliness, says marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok on her weblog. “China’s approach to customer centricity has been transformative, driven by a combination of technological integration and a deep understanding of consumer behavior,” she writes.Read More →

Paula Macaggi, the founder of OFFBounds, sets off for her first trip to Shanghai and questions e-commerce expert Sharon Gai, the author of  Ecommerce Reimagined: Retail and Ecommerce in China on what she can expect on her journey. Key Takeaways: •⁠ ⁠The super app experience with WeChat •⁠ ⁠How China’s retail is about content and entertainment •⁠ ⁠Unique consumer behaviors and retail experiences only found in China •⁠ ⁠The rise of sustainable consumption in Chinese e-commerce.Read More →

The Hurun China rich list published its 2024 results and its chairman Rupert Hoogewerf saw 30 percent of the country’s billionaires disappear, he says on CNBC. “The Hurun China Rich List has shrunk for an unprecedented third year running, as China’s economy and stock markets had a difficult year,” said Rupert Hoogewerf.Read More →

Islam and Christianity often get a hard time from China’s authorities, while local beliefs, Taoism, and Buddhism enjoy the support of the government. Journalist and researcher Ian Johnson, author of The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao, followed local pilgrimages for almost a decade and recently joined the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin to study the relation between those beliefs and the state, he tells in an introduction at the start of his new study.Read More →

While bullish on the Chinese economy in the long run, business analyst Shaun Rein at CNBC says investors should still be trading down today. While the government financial mini-bazooka has revived the equity markets quite well, he adds, it is not enough to get the economy rolling again.Read More →

Consumer spending in China might be in the doldrums, but a remarkable exception is the movie industry, says business analyst Ben Cavender in the Wall Street Journal. Visiting film theaters has become an affordable time out for friends and families of more tight-fisted consumers, he says. The planned expansion of the number of theaters to 5,000 per year shows the industry’s optimism. Also: domestic movies are doing better than the previously popular foreign competitors.Read More →

Despite the hope of the international financial community, China is not heading for structural reforms, says leading economist Arthur Kroeber, author of  China’s Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know®, to CNBC. Pushing up demand is not high on the agenda for China’s leadership, he says, and they do not want to push up debts levels to new heights.Read More →