China economy facts and how your brand can take advantage to spur growth

Everyone knows that China is the world’s most populous county with more than 1.4 Billion residents as of 2019, but beyond demographics, the country’s economy is one of the most dynamic and interesting in the world.
How can you leverage information about China’s economy to grow your business in the market? What do these statistics mean for global businesses? How should companies approach their opportunity in China?

Here are some interesting facts about China and its economy:

  1. China has been the largest single contributor to world growth since the global financial crisis of 2008. Although its growth may have slowed in recent years, the economy still performs well compared to Western, mature economies. For the final quarter of 2018, growth was 6.4 per cent compared to the previous year.
  2. According to estimates in 2018, it is expected that China’s GDP will overtake that of the United States sometime around 2025. Remember that previously it was believed that this would have already happened, so be careful in the prediction business when it comes to economic growth.
  3. The Chinese government has invested trillions of dollars in their infrastructure to ensure that the economy grows, consumers grow their wealth and businesses thrive. That includes new subway lines in various cities and the easing of monetary policy, designed to ensure there is plenty of money in the financial systems. The government has also pledged to cut taxes, which will only further enrich Chinese consumers so they can purchase all sorts of products (both domestic and imported).
  4. The Chinese government has not historically helped the local housing markets. Although that is typically used as a “last resort”, it is good to know that the government has access to that lever, should it need to pull it at some time in the future.
  5. Chinese consumers are some of the most sophisticated in the world, and, just like their North American counterparts, expect companies to continue to provide value. That means both domestic and foreign companies (and government service providers) are expected to innovate in the areas of product, price, environmental protection and more.
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  1. By 2025, China will build enough skyscrapers to fill ten New York-sized cities. 40 billion square metres of floor space will be built in five million buildings! And by 2030, China will add more new city-dwellers than the entire current U.S. population — a whopping 350 million people!
  2. Chinese disposable income grew per capita by 6.5 percent in 2018, while consumption grew by 6.2 per cent per capita. Despite slower income growth from the previous year, according to the statistics bureau, the figure still outstrips economic growth per capita, and China is on track to achieve its twin goals of doubling gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020 (over 2010 levels) and becoming a moderately prosperous society. What does that mean for Western brands? A host of new customers with deeper pockets than ever before.
  3. Earlier this decade, China surpassed Europe as the world’s biggest beer market. Beer drinking is growing fast in China, at a rate of nearly 10 per cent a year. Foreign brands are seen as superior in terms of quality and taste to local brands.
  4. China consumes 53 per cent of the world’s cement, 48 per cent of the world’s iron ore, 47 per cent of the world’s coal and the majority of just about every major commodity!
  5. Currently, China is the world’s sixth largest wine producer. It aims to be the world’s top producer by 2058.