Many Western brands in China might be targeting the emerging middle class, but that does not exist in China, like it does in the US, argues retail analyst Shaun Rein. Chinese consumer got for the premium products, or for the cheap, there is no middle ground, he writes in Bloomberg.Read More →
Being part of the aspiring middle class is not easy, Shanghai-based author Paul French knows. Their house keepers – or ayi’s – are hard to get, prices go up and your food gets poisoned, he summarizes the ordeal in the China Economic review.Read More →
Shaun Rein’s long-awaited book on The End of Cheap China: Economic and Cultural Trends that will Disrupt the World has reached the shelves of US book stores. Key lessons on change in China.Read More →
For many the purchasing habits of Chinese consumers are hard to gauge. Retail expert Paul French tells in The Telegraph why Chinese buy what and were. “Chinese consumers are still buying status.” But what gives status, might vary from other consumers.Read More →
Being a patriot in China has become much easier, now the government focuses on increasing domestic consumption, writes retail analyst Paul French in The Telegraph. “All they have to do now is shop, shut up and then go shop some more.”Read More →
Obesity as a problem is growing for children in China, seen as a way to show off prosperity, tells Paul French, co-author of Fat China, in the US edition of the China Daily. Unfortunately, it is not yet seen as a threat for health care.Read More →
US-style doughnut shops are proliferating in China’s large cities, and that is bad news for their already deteriorating diet, tells retail analyst Paul French in the Washington Post, when they take of. French studied the obesity levels in the country in his book “Fat China”.Read More →
The China bears should get their facts straight, writes business analyst Shaun Rein in CNBC. He takes aim at economist Nouriel Roubini and MIT professor Huang Yasheng.Read More →
Fashion retailer Gap did not gain much traction in its first year in China, writes business analyst Shaun Rein in CNBC. To survive, it needs to adjust its brand image. China defines ‘middle class’ different from the US.Read More →
Bad teeth and type 2 diabetes are just two of the problems China’s fat children develop, tells Paul French in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. Paul French is the co-author of the bestseller Fat China: How Expanding Waistlines are Changing a Nation.Read More →
Luxury bag producer Louis Vuitton has scored a major deal by cooperating with the Beijing National Museum, says retail analyst Shaun Rein in News Channel Asia. Linking to its own historical roots works very well in China.Read More →
Helen Wang via Flickr One of the more amazing shifts China has undergone in the past decades is its ability to create wealth for its citizens, and lift hundreds of millions out of poverty. The mental picture many outsiders still have of China, enforced when they see the PLA marching onRead More →