Consumer market upgrade forges tremendous opportunities for enterprises

TIANJIN－From introducing imported products to China in the early years, adjusting the product formulation to meet Chinese consumers' needs, to the current export of goods made in Chinese factories, P&G has witnessed the development of China's consumption market.

The potential of China's consumption market has created unlimited opportunities for enterprises, said Jasmine Xu, chairwoman and CEO of P&G Greater China, at a recent summit in Tianjin.

The Haihe International Consumption Summit highlighted new opportunities for international consumption under the "dual-circulation" development pattern, as China is building a new development paradigm where domestic and overseas markets reinforce each other, with the domestic market as the mainstay.

In July, the State Council approved Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing and Guangzhou, Guangdong province, to take the lead in building international consumption center cities. The five recently unveiled a series of measures and will carry out specific projects to build themselves into international consumption center cities.

"I believe China will be able to leverage the fundamental role of domestic consumption in economic development and foster a more robust and domestic market to boost growth at home and create more room for global growth," Ian McGarrigle, founder and chairman of the World Retail Congress, said via video link.

With a population of over 1.4 billion, including a middle-income group of over 400 million that keeps expanding, China offers a supersized market which will create new opportunities for global consumption markets, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao said at the summit.

Currently, the Chinese consumption market features high-quality, putting more emphasis on individuality and the shopping experience. The consumption upgrade trend is obvious.

"China is one of the largest and most sophisticated consumer markets in the world, and we are very committed to China and to Chinese consumers. We are investing to improve and expand our operations and we are investing in innovative new products and services. All with a view to meeting Chinese consumers' desire to have a better life," said David Taylor, chairman of the board, president and CEO of P&G.

Bestseller Fashion Group China, a company that has been in the market for nearly 25 years, has continued to seize more opportunities. It has participated in the Double 11 or Nov 11 Singles Day buying spree and opened livestreaming workshops on popular Chinese video-sharing app Douyin to embrace China's livestreaming economy.

"We had 100 percent localization since 1998. We spent all the time in the Chinese consumption market to understand Chinese consumers. There have been so many opportunities in China all these years," said Dan Friis, co-founder of the Bestseller Fashion Group China.

Liu Hui, director of the JD Research Institute for Consumption and Industrial Development, said the number of international brands and products on JD has continued to grow in recent years. They conduct research on the clear needs of Chinese consumers and even tailor products and services for them.

"It represents the promotion of China's consumption market in the world, and also shows the importance of the Chinese market to these international brands," Liu said.

The National Bureau of Statistics said China's retail sales of consumer goods in the first three quarters totaled around 31.8 trillion yuan ($4.98 trillion), up 16.4 percent year-on-year.

Wang Wei, director general and senior research fellow of the Institute of Market Economy, which is part of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said building Chinese cities into international consumption centers is conducive to fostering new growth poles in promoting stable economic growth, and leading the momentum in global consumption.

Wang said it is necessary to accelerate the cultivation of a diversified and multilevel consumer industry system, combining digitalization, intelligence and experience-oriented development trends in the retail industry to innovate consumption patterns and product services.

Xinhua