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 →

In numbers, the Chinese tourists might be reaching this year pre-pandemic levels, but their destinations will be more domestic and cheaper, says marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok at CNBC. She expects recovery in Chinese traveling internationally to take longer, partly as “the feeling that the rest of the world is mad and unsafe is even higher than in 2023.”Read More →

China business veteran Shaun Rein discusses with Cyrus Janssen how China has faced challenges since it opened up post-Corona. Outbound travel has not resumed, expected revenge spending did not happen and consumer confidence is at the lowest rate ever. No, he says, China is not yet back to normal, because consumers sit on their corona savings, unwilling to spend. And foreign investors, while CEOs are going to China, are hesitant to resume investing in China, at least till the end of 2023. But support for Xi Jinping is still there, he sees. Though, expect a tough 10-20 years.Read More →

One of the major nuisances for foreign visitors to China might be gone as the country’s major payment giants, Tencent (operating WeChat Pay) and the Ant Group (operating Alipay) agreed to accept foreign credit cards on their platforms. Up to now, visitors needed to have a Chinese bank account to use those common payment tools in China.Read More →

China launched its first homemade cruise ship, as this part of the tourist industry struggles to stay afloat. But consumption expert Ashley Dudarenok sees a bright future for cruises from China, as this industry is still in its infancy in a country where many look for alternatives, she tells at state-owned broadcaster CGTN.Read More →

Leading VC William Bao Bean explains how travel startups managed through the COVID-19 crisis at PhocusWire Pulse. In China, they survived by focusing on booming domestic travel, but the lack of international travel hit some severely. Some of the travel startups he guided to the market had to give up their efforts to enter the Asian market, while others adjusted to the difficult market conditions.Read More →

China’s National Day is the start of its October Golden Week. Business analyst Ashley Dudarenok dives in her vlog into the history and the economic motives behind that weeklong season of travel and celebrations, and its disruptive effects on retail, logistics, and other industries.Read More →

Marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok looks at the recent Autumn festival, China’s second-largest holiday. How did it develop and how does it affect tourism, eating, and drinking, from her digital vlog. 80 million people have been traveling domestically this year, she says, and comparable to America’s Thanksgiving festival.Read More →