{"id":9532,"date":"2024-09-25T15:00:05","date_gmt":"2024-09-25T08:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thaipropertynews.com\/feeds\/?p=9532"},"modified":"2024-09-25T15:00:05","modified_gmt":"2024-09-25T08:00:05","slug":"global-times-75-years-of-evolution-chinas-consumption-evolves-and-unfolds-unlimited-potential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thaipropertynews.com\/feeds\/?p=9532","title":{"rendered":"Global Times: 75 years of evolution: China&#8217;s consumption evolves and unfolds unlimited potential"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"legendSpanClass\"><span class=\"xn-location\">BEIJING<\/span>, Sept. 25, 2024 \/PRNewswire\/ &#8212; It&#8217;s <span class=\"xn-chron\">9 pm<\/span> on <span class=\"xn-location\">Beijing&#8217;s<\/span>\u00a0Chang&#8217;an Avenue.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Thirty-year-old Ma Yuqiang, an experienced cyclist from <span class=\"xn-location\">Beijing<\/span>, waits patiently at a busy intersection, eager for the green light to continue his ride.<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, the same bicycle congestion has caught Ma&#8217;s parents before, in the 1980s.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Yet, it is the younger Ma&#8217;s bike that reflects a sea change in Chinese people&#8217;s consumption pattern. His bike costs <span class=\"xn-money\">100,000 yuan<\/span> <span class=\"xn-money\">($14,202)<\/span>, while his father&#8217;s was less than <span class=\"xn-money\">200 yuan<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>In documentaries documenting <span class=\"xn-location\">China<\/span> in the 1980s, scenes of bicycle flows carrying plainly dressed Chinese along Chang&#8217;an Avenue are iconic. For people back then, bicycles were their means of transportation and even the most valuable &#8220;asset&#8221; in their homes. <span class=\"xn-location\">China<\/span> is known as the &#8220;bicycle kingdom&#8221; in the world.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In the 1970s, my father&#8217;s Phoenix brand 28-inch bicycle was the pride of our family. Bikes were the vehicle of transportation for most people back then, and in the 1980s, the streets and alleys of <span class=\"xn-location\">Beijing<\/span> were full of cyclists and a sea of bicycles is parked in front of Tian&#8217;anmen Square,&#8221; Ma recalled.<\/p>\n<p>Decades have passed, and although <span class=\"xn-location\">China<\/span> remains the world&#8217;s foremost bicycle kingdom, both the cyclists and the bicycles they ride have undergone tremendous changes, reflecting an evolving picture of Chinese people&#8217;s consumption pattern.<\/p>\n<p>Since the founding of <span class=\"xn-location\">the People&#8217;s Republic of China<\/span> 75 years ago, with the deepening of market-oriented reforms, <span class=\"xn-location\">China&#8217;s<\/span> commercial circulation and consumption have achieved historic leaps, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a post on its website on <span class=\"xn-chron\">September 11<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>The scale of retail sales has steadily expanded, the consumption structure has been continuously optimized and upgraded, the supply market has gradually improved, and the quality and efficiency of the circulation system have continued to improve, noted the NBS.<\/p>\n<p>From function to fun<\/p>\n<p>After turn of the century, as Chinese consumers pursue efficiency and productivity and <span class=\"xn-location\">China&#8217;s<\/span> cities grew larger, millions of Chinese switched from bicycles to cars. This shift, alongside the growth of <span class=\"xn-location\">China&#8217;s<\/span> automotive industry, spurred a surge in car ownership, making <span class=\"xn-location\">China<\/span> the world&#8217;s largest automotive market. According to NBS data, <span class=\"xn-location\">China&#8217;s<\/span> car ownership reached 49.7 units per 100 households by the end of 2023, 2.9 times that of 2013.<\/p>\n<p>The shift from bicycles to cars was just the tip of the iceberg in changing Chinese consumption patterns. The other big-ticket items of the average Chinese household also experienced a giant leap to greater quantity and quality with Chinese people&#8217;s growing income, benefiting domestic and foreign companies in the process.<\/p>\n<p>Measured by the average number of color TV sets, refrigerators, and washing machines owned by every 100 urban Chinese households, the numbers are only 0.6, 0.2 and 6.3 in 1981. By the end of 2023, the set of numbers has been vastly boosted to 107.8, 103.4, and 98.2.<\/p>\n<p>Also, the incomes of Chinese residents have grown dramatically over the past 75 years, rising from <span class=\"xn-money\">49.7 yuan<\/span> (about <span class=\"xn-money\">$7 dollars<\/span>) in 1949 to <span class=\"xn-money\">39,218 yuan<\/span> in 2023, an increase of 75.8 times, data from the NBS showed.<\/p>\n<p>As the nation&#8217;s economic strengths grew along with the reform and opening-up, the consumption pattern of Chinese consumers have shifted from merely meeting material needs to focusing on quality and service-oriented consumption, and has transformed from physical consumption that meets the needs of everyday life to service consumption that embodies the needs of a better life, analysts said.<\/p>\n<p>Driven by the continuous increase in income levels and changes in consumption concepts, the trend of consumption upgrading is becoming increasingly pronounced, driven by growing incomes and evolving consumer preferences.<\/p>\n<p>As the country moved from the era of scarcity to the era of abundance, the story of the bicycle continues.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Entering the 21st century, mountain biking became a fad, and young people have become obsessed with outdoor cycling. Bicycles have gradually transitioned from being mere transportation tools to becoming symbols of entertainment and lifestyle,&#8221; Ma, who spent <span class=\"xn-money\">170,000 yuan<\/span> on his two bikes, said. &#8220;This reflects not only increased disposable income but also a shift in spending toward health, entertainment, and cultural enrichment.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Diversified consumption<\/p>\n<p>Analysts noted that as <span class=\"xn-location\">China<\/span> became the world&#8217;s largest manufacturing nation, with its large industrial capacity continues to supply the market with loads of commodities in ever increasing quantity, those supplies are more consumer-oriented and catering to the specific needs of the average Chinese consumer.<\/p>\n<p>By 2023, the number of items of consumer goods registered by the State Administration of Market Regulation has approached 200 million.<\/p>\n<p>The transformation of the <span class=\"xn-location\">China<\/span> market from oblivion to the world&#8217;s second-largest consumer market is an epoch-making event in the history of global economic development, Bian Yongzu, executive deputy editor-in-chief of Modernization of Management magazine, told the Global Times on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<span class=\"xn-location\">China&#8217;s<\/span> vast and rapidly expanding consumer market, strong purchasing power of Chinese consumers, and their wide array of demands provide huge room for foreign companies to generate revenues and experiment innovations,&#8221; Bian said.<\/p>\n<p>For example, the renewed popularity of cycling reflects a growing focus on low-carbon travel, sharing economy, individuality, and an active lifestyle. These new trends have generated great market opportunities for domestic and foreign brands.<\/p>\n<p>As the nation continues to implement the strategy of expanding domestic demand, introduce policies to boost consumption, enhance the alignment of supply and demand, continuously improve the adaptability of supply and demand, and cultivate new business formats and new models, analysts said that consumption will continue to be the &#8220;main engine&#8221; in driving <span class=\"xn-location\">China&#8217;s<\/span> economic growth and benefiting the world.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><!-- wp:html --><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"legendSpanClass\"><span class=\"xn-location\">BEIJING<\/span>, Sept. 25, 2024 \/PRNewswire\/ &#8212; It&#8217;s <span class=\"xn-chron\">9 pm<\/span> on <span class=\"xn-location\">Beijing&#8217;s<\/span>\u00a0Chang&#8217;an Avenue.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Thirty-year-old Ma Yuqiang, an experienced cyclist from <span class=\"xn-location\">Beijing<\/span>, waits patiently at a busy intersection, eager for the green light to continue his ride.<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, the same bicycle congestion has caught Ma&#8217;s parents before, in the 1980s.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Yet, it is the younger Ma&#8217;s bike that reflects a sea change in Chinese people&#8217;s consumption pattern. His bike costs <span class=\"xn-money\">100,000 yuan<\/span> <span class=\"xn-money\">($14,202)<\/span>, while his father&#8217;s was less than <span class=\"xn-money\">200 yuan<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>In documentaries documenting <span class=\"xn-location\">China<\/span> in the 1980s, scenes of bicycle flows carrying plainly dressed Chinese along Chang&#8217;an Avenue are iconic. For people back then, bicycles were their means of transportation and even the most valuable &#8220;asset&#8221; in their homes. <span class=\"xn-location\">China<\/span> is known as the &#8220;bicycle kingdom&#8221; in the world.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In the 1970s, my father&#8217;s Phoenix brand 28-inch bicycle was the pride of our family. Bikes were the vehicle of transportation for most people back then, and in the 1980s, the streets and alleys of <span class=\"xn-location\">Beijing<\/span> were full of cyclists and a sea of bicycles is parked in front of Tian&#8217;anmen Square,&#8221; Ma recalled.<\/p>\n<p>Decades have passed, and although <span class=\"xn-location\">China<\/span> remains the world&#8217;s foremost bicycle kingdom, both the cyclists and the bicycles they ride have undergone tremendous changes, reflecting an evolving picture of Chinese people&#8217;s consumption pattern.<\/p>\n<p>Since the founding of <span class=\"xn-location\">the People&#8217;s Republic of China<\/span> 75 years ago, with the deepening of market-oriented reforms, <span class=\"xn-location\">China&#8217;s<\/span> commercial circulation and consumption have achieved historic leaps, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a post on its website on <span class=\"xn-chron\">September 11<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>The scale of retail sales has steadily expanded, the consumption structure has been continuously optimized and upgraded, the supply market has gradually improved, and the quality and efficiency of the circulation system have continued to improve, noted the NBS.<\/p>\n<p>From function to fun<\/p>\n<p>After turn of the century, as Chinese consumers pursue efficiency and productivity and <span class=\"xn-location\">China&#8217;s<\/span> cities grew larger, millions of Chinese switched from bicycles to cars. This shift, alongside the growth of <span class=\"xn-location\">China&#8217;s<\/span> automotive industry, spurred a surge in car ownership, making <span class=\"xn-location\">China<\/span> the world&#8217;s largest automotive market. According to NBS data, <span class=\"xn-location\">China&#8217;s<\/span> car ownership reached 49.7 units per 100 households by the end of 2023, 2.9 times that of 2013.<\/p>\n<p>The shift from bicycles to cars was just the tip of the iceberg in changing Chinese consumption patterns. The other big-ticket items of the average Chinese household also experienced a giant leap to greater quantity and quality with Chinese people&#8217;s growing income, benefiting domestic and foreign companies in the process.<\/p>\n<p>Measured by the average number of color TV sets, refrigerators, and washing machines owned by every 100 urban Chinese households, the numbers are only 0.6, 0.2 and 6.3 in 1981. By the end of 2023, the set of numbers has been vastly boosted to 107.8, 103.4, and 98.2.<\/p>\n<p>Also, the incomes of Chinese residents have grown dramatically over the past 75 years, rising from <span class=\"xn-money\">49.7 yuan<\/span> (about <span class=\"xn-money\">$7 dollars<\/span>) in 1949 to <span class=\"xn-money\">39,218 yuan<\/span> in 2023, an increase of 75.8 times, data from the NBS showed.<\/p>\n<p>As the nation&#8217;s economic strengths grew along with the reform and opening-up, the consumption pattern of Chinese consumers have shifted from merely meeting material needs to focusing on quality and service-oriented consumption, and has transformed from physical consumption that meets the needs of everyday life to service consumption that embodies the needs of a better life, analysts said.<\/p>\n<p>Driven by the continuous increase in income levels and changes in consumption concepts, the trend of consumption upgrading is becoming increasingly pronounced, driven by growing incomes and evolving consumer preferences.<\/p>\n<p>As the country moved from the era of scarcity to the era of abundance, the story of the bicycle continues.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Entering the 21st century, mountain biking became a fad, and young people have become obsessed with outdoor cycling. Bicycles have gradually transitioned from being mere transportation tools to becoming symbols of entertainment and lifestyle,&#8221; Ma, who spent <span class=\"xn-money\">170,000 yuan<\/span> on his two bikes, said. &#8220;This reflects not only increased disposable income but also a shift in spending toward health, entertainment, and cultural enrichment.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Diversified consumption<\/p>\n<p>Analysts noted that as <span class=\"xn-location\">China<\/span> became the world&#8217;s largest manufacturing nation, with its large industrial capacity continues to supply the market with loads of commodities in ever increasing quantity, those supplies are more consumer-oriented and catering to the specific needs of the average Chinese consumer.<\/p>\n<p>By 2023, the number of items of consumer goods registered by the State Administration of Market Regulation has approached 200 million.<\/p>\n<p>The transformation of the <span class=\"xn-location\">China<\/span> market from oblivion to the world&#8217;s second-largest consumer market is an epoch-making event in the history of global economic development, Bian Yongzu, executive deputy editor-in-chief of Modernization of Management magazine, told the Global Times on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<span class=\"xn-location\">China&#8217;s<\/span> vast and rapidly expanding consumer market, strong purchasing power of Chinese consumers, and their wide array of demands provide huge room for foreign companies to generate revenues and experiment innovations,&#8221; Bian said.<\/p>\n<p>For example, the renewed popularity of cycling reflects a growing focus on low-carbon travel, sharing economy, individuality, and an active lifestyle. These new trends have generated great market opportunities for domestic and foreign brands.<\/p>\n<p>As the nation continues to implement the strategy of expanding domestic demand, introduce policies to boost consumption, enhance the alignment of supply and demand, continuously improve the adaptability of supply and demand, and cultivate new business formats and new models, analysts said that consumption will continue to be the &#8220;main engine&#8221; in driving <span class=\"xn-location\">China&#8217;s<\/span> economic growth and benefiting the world.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:html --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cision-pr-newswire","category-cision-pr-newswire-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thaipropertynews.com\/feeds\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thaipropertynews.com\/feeds\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thaipropertynews.com\/feeds\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thaipropertynews.com\/feeds\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thaipropertynews.com\/feeds\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9532\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thaipropertynews.com\/feeds\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thaipropertynews.com\/feeds\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thaipropertynews.com\/feeds\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}