  
Access Asia
July 2005
27 pages
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US$585
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Table of Contents
This Access Asia guide to China’s consumer market provides an analysis of the country’s consumer incomes, location and retail sales revealing that the consumer base is narrower than may be first thought. also included are details of new opportunities in the market.
Executive Summary
Consumers in China’s southern and eastern coastal cities spend more than any other segment, with average per capita retail sales exceeding RMB 10,000. Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin and the southern boom town of Shenzhen have all recorded per capita retail sales exceeding RMB 20,000 while Beijing per capita spending is just under RMB 20,000. These can be considered tier one cities in retail terms.
Those with per capita retail sales of between RMB 10,000 and RMB 20,000 are generally considered tier two and three cities.
As consumer wealth in major urban market spreads into suburbs and beyond, retailers are following. Local convenience stores - a frequent sight in suburban districts of Shanghai and Guangzhou – began to proliferate in Beijing in 2003, while Hong Kong fashion retailers have expanded into the satellite towns surrounding major cities. Large-scale, out-of-town shopping complexes are expected to follow, increasingly catering towards consumers with access to private vehicles.
Despite government administrative controls on their numbers China still has 400 major retail malls. However, their growth has slowed as Beijing has been keen not to see excess building in tier three and beyond cities that are unable to sustain this level of retail activity at present.
Dramatic increases in the size and number of Chinese cities over the past 20 years have helped push GDP upwards. Urban GDP averaged 18% during the 1988-1996 period alone, with 34 out of 226 cities at the prefecture level or higher registering a GDP of RMB 20 billion (US$ 2.4 billion) or more.
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|  | | China's Consumer Market: An Overview
| | | | | China's Consumer Market: An Overview
| | | | | China's Consumer Market: An Overview
| | | | | China's Consumer Market: An Overview
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