A recent study by the Economic Intelligence Unit indicates that Chinese consumers only make up 5% of the world’s $36.9 trillion consumption. However, we need to keep in mind that the Chinese consumers barely existed about a decade ago.
The trend in Chinese consumption is significantly moving upward. Retail spending has increased steadily at 15 percent and more in recent years. Chinese consumer confidence remained high even during the worldwide recession in 2008-2009. China has already become the world’s largest market for automobiles, television sets, and cell phones, and the world’s second largest market for luxury goods.
Walking on the streets of China’s bustling cities, one can easily witness prosperity and the consumer boom. Continue reading China May Become the World’s Second Largest Consumer Market
China has surpassed the United States to become the world’s largest energy user, according to Paris-based International Energy Agency. As a growing Chinese middle class demands cars and homes with modern appliances, it will continue to drive up China’s energy consumption.
Achieving greater energy efficiency has become a top priority of China’s leaders. According to China Daily, China’s state-owned State Grid Corp. plans to invest $586 million constructing smart grids that incorporate wind and solar energy, energy storage, energy transmission monitoring, intelligent substations, and smart meters.
There are plenty of opportunities for Western companies in China’s soaring clean tech industry. Continue reading China’s Smart Grid Boom
Twenty-one years ago, thousands of Chinese students gathered at Tiananmen Square demanding more democracy. The world still remembers the stunning image of a lone student standing in front of armed tanks in an attempt to block the tanks from entering into the Square.
At the time, I had just arrived in the United States as a student and watched the entire demonstration on TV. Like other Chinese students in the U. S., I protested with them on the streets and wept with them when the crackeddown came.
Twenty-one years later, China has changed to a very different country. Today’s new middle class Chinese have little in common with the idealistic students. They are the beneficiaries of China’s economic reform. Most of them approve what the government has done. They are all busy trying to keep up with the swirling changes. Continue reading 21 years after Tiananmen Square, will the Chinese middle class push for democracy?
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The trend in Chinese consumption is significantly moving upward. Retail spending has increased steadily at 15 percent and more in recent years. Chinese consumer confidence remained high even during the worldwide recession in 2008-2009. China has already become the world’s largest market for automobiles, television sets, and cell phones, and the world’s second largest market for luxury goods.
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