Traditional luxury markets have contracted, with the exception of travel, which is one of the conclusions of the 2025 Hurun Chinese Luxury Consumer Survey. “The average household consumption of China’s HNWIs was down 12% in the past year,” says Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman of Hurun, the research organization responsible for the Hurun Rich List in the Jing Daily.Read More →
Cashless payments have become mainstream in China, but cash is still valuable and the government supports cash payments, says financial expert Sara Hsu, an associate professor at the University of Tennessee, specializing in supply chain management in the Guardian. A “[recent] directive pushes China’s policy of inclusive finance further to ensure that both elderly Chinese and foreigners can participate in economic transactions,” says Hsu.Read More →
Just lifting the stringent Covid-19 restrictions in China did not revive its economy as expected. The lockdowns ended in December 2022 and visas were issued in March 2023 again, but the recovery had been lackluster. The aviation industry belongs to those with the most disappointing predictions by June. 22, 2023, as it expects to be back to normal by the end of 2024, hoping for an extension of government support, reports the South China Morning Post.Read More →
Business analyst Shaun Rein comments on the disappointing figures from Alibaba for CNA. “The economy is improving, but certainly not on track,” he says. While the consumers might be traveling more compared to 2019, they are certainly spending less, as their confidence is low, Rein adds.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 →
The US should improve its infrastructure, just as China did, says business analyst Shaun Rein at the CGTN. He looks back at his 23 years in China, and how traveling has become so much easier, because of heavy investments in the fast speed railways network in the country.Read More →
Domestic travel in China might be recovering after being hit by the COVID-19 crisis, but international travel might never be the same, says marketing analyst Ashley Dudarenok at Technode. People will likely never travel the same way internationally again, she adds.Read More →
An even faster shift to online, domestic tourism and health care related activities. Business analyst Shaun Rein sums up how China is changing faster after the corona crisis is over, in an interview with Ashley Dudarenok. Are international brands even more leverage to domestic brands, both wonder.Read More →
While the rest of the world is firmly into a lockdown, China is slowly getting back to normal. That is only one of the reasons why the country is leading the way after the coronavirus crisis, says William Bao Bean, partner, SOSV Capital and Managing Director, Chinaccelerator from Shanghai to Webintravel in a podcast.Read More →
While messages from the coronavirus are mixed, to put it mildly, the current economic crash course might only be over by April/May, in the most optimistic scenario. Numbers of infected people and deaths by COVID-19 still vary to much to support any scenario at this stage, while it is also unclear whether the rest of the world can contain the virus.
Footage from metro subways still show empty carriages, as the central government tries to encouraged migrant workers to return to their workplaces, local governments – including the big cities – advise returning migrants to put themselves in a social quarantine for two weeks to be sure they do not carry the virus. The dilemma is obvious: different government make different choices when it come to prevent major economic damage or keeping their cities save from the virus. Read More →
Brands need to dive into youth subcultures in stead of focusing on platforms, says branding expert Arnold Ma at a meeting in London. You have to focus on people, rather than technology, and he explains how three rebellious Chinese youth subcultures relate to different brands.Read More →