About the newsletter

The American consumer has been the single-most important engine for the global economy for the longest time. When the American economy motored along, exporters from Hamburg to Yiwu were happy shipping consumer goods to Walmart and Costco.

On the other side of the Pacific, another force is gathering strength. Chinese household spending has risen steadily over the years. According to a measure of private consumption per capita compiled by the World Bank, Chinese household spending has risen from a paltry $664.5 in 2000 to $3,148.2 in 2018.

While that still pales compared to the $37,921.7 of the U.S. household, the groundswell of consumer demand in China is driving a meaningful diversification of the world’s second-largest economy from one led by investment and exports to one that increasingly runs on domestic demand.

The rise in Chinese consumer spending is also colliding with another great force: the mobile internet, which has reshaped the way people work, live, shop, and play. The online retail market in China is already bigger than the next 10 markets combined and the latest in consumer trends is as likely to emanate out of Shenzhen as it is from Silicon Valley. Meanwhile, Covid-19 has forced many traditional industries to rethink their business models and accelerating digital trends by years.

The China Consumer newsletter will curate the latest and most significant consumer behavior developments resulting from the intersection of these seismic forces.

We will provide a guided tour to the exciting but seemingly chaotic consumer market, where ideas and the Next Big Thing can quite literally sprout overnight. Essential reading for anyone interested in doing business in China, selling to China, or staying ahead of trends that first emerge in China.

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