Poll: 2/3 Chinese Boycotted Japanese Goods Over Diaoyus Dispute
Two-thirds of Chinese boycotted Japanese products and almost all Chinese feel anti-Japan sentiment has intensified in the world’s second-largest economy since the government purchased three the Senkaku islets in September, a Kyodo News online survey revealed Saturday.
The findings also highlighted a disparity in the way Chinese and Japanese view one another, with roughly one-third of the Chinese respondents feeling they can still trust Japan despite the Senkakus territorial row, while only 5 percent of the Japanese polled gave a similar answer.
More than 65 percent of both the Japanese and Chinese respondents said they have not felt like visiting the other country since Japan in mid-September effectively nationalized the Senkaku islet chain claimed by Beijing in the East China Sea, according to the survey.
Asked whether ties between the two nations need to improve, 71 percent of the Chinese respondents and 60 percent of the Japanese polled agreed.
The survey was conducted by research firms Searchina (Shanghai) Co., based in Shanghai, and Nippon Research Center Ltd. in Tokyo from late November through early December. Searchina selected 1,000 Chinese from some 550,000 people registered with the company in China, and Nippon Research chose 1,000 Japanese from some 260,000 people who responded to the poll in Japan.
On the violent anti-Japanese demonstrations that broke out across China in September, 24 percent of the Chinese respondents said they had taken part in the protests, but 74 percent of those polled said that although they can understand the feelings of the demonstrators, their behavior went too far.\
– Kyodo News
Shark Fin Trade Carries on in Spite of Campaigns
Despite high profile ads featuring super-stars like Yao Ming on prime-time Chinese national TV urging people to stop consuming shark fin soup and some restaurant establishments taking it off the menu, the affluent still like it as a status symbol. Since last July, the Chinese government has banned shark fin soup at official dinners.
Here’s a BBC video on the on-going campaign.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15015226
Here’s a recent one on Hong Kong merchants drying shark fin on rooftops, away from the public eye.
Harper Calls NDP’s Mulcair an Extremist Against FIPA
Tom Mulcair was labelled an anti-trade, anti-business extremist Wednesday for threatening to rip up a controversial investment treaty with China.
But the NDP leader did not back down. Indeed, he ratcheted up the rhetoric against the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Act, vowing that an NDP government would not be bound to honour a treaty ratified by the Harper government.
“Let me be very clear,” Mulcair told the House of Commons.
“The Conservatives will not tie the hands of the NDP. We will revoke this agreement if it is not in the best interests of Canadians.”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the treaty is the product of almost 20 years of negotiations, designed to give Canadian investors in China the same protection that Chinese investors have in Canada. He ridiculed Mulcair’s threat to abrogate the deal.
“The leader of the NDP is saying he would revoke the hard-earned right of Canadian investors to be protected in a marketplace like China. That is precisely why Canadian investors, the Canadian business community and the Canadian public at large does not trust the NDP with economic policy,” Harper said.
“New Democrats support trade,” retorted Mulcair. “We just do not support selling out Canada.”
Harper countered that the NDP has opposed almost every trade deal Canada has ever struck with any country, including calling the free trade agreement with the United States a “sellout.”
“That kind of extremism on trade is why Canadians will never entrust economic policy to the NDP,” he declared.
– Canadian Press
Infographic: China’s Smartphone Market
China is now the largest smartphone market with more than 270 million shipments expected this year and Lenovo, the world’s largest PC maker, is #2 in China in smartphones, ahead of Apple and Chinese competitors Huawei and ZTE. Smartphone ownship in China is still only around 38% of the total population, way below Western countries and Japan and even Russia and Brazil. But, expect that ratio to spike high within a few years.
– BloombergBusinessweek
Chinese Consumer Trends II
At the end of 2011, China had 185 million seniors above the age of 60, or 13.8% of the population (up 3% from the previous census) while 8.9% are older than 65 (up over 1.9%). China’s aging population is among the fastest growing in the world. The China National Committee on Aging projects the number of senior citizens to surge to 221 million by 2015 and skyrocketing to an astounding 487 million, or 35% of the population, by the 2050s.
Chinese seniors no longer save every penny toward a nest egg. They harbour new notions of living meaningful golden years involving more spending on recreation and a higher quality of life. Average incomes in the 55-64 bracket has been rising along with disposable portions for such activities as travel and sports. Just in the last two years, those who travelled within their home province grew by 7%; those who travelled outside the province grew by 18%; and those taking tours to Hong Kong/Macau/Taiwan grew by 10% with significant numbers voyaging beyond Greater China. Among this segment, mobile phone ownership is spiking as is participation in an assortment of recreational activities, pushing up demand for sports and leisure apparel, just to name a couple sectors.
Latest figures from tmall.com indicate that more than 1.3 million over 50s netizens shop online. While they currently form only 4% of the general senior population, there is obviously enormous potential for growth. Geographically, “Shanghai Aunties and Uncles” lead the pack with nearly 60,000 more than in Beijing. Surprisingly, senior netizens buy more clothing than anything else, especially women’s clothes. In the past year alone, they bought 8.59 million pieces of female apparel. During the “double holiday” of Mid-Autumn (Moon cake) Festival and National Day, tmall.com released a “My Father” video on its microblog calling on children to remember nurturing by their fathers. Of course, tmall wants children to respond in kind by teaching their fathers how to shop online, particularly during holiday periods!
Some of elderly are now into backpacking. Prior to the 2012 Olympic Games, video portal Youku and dairy producer Yili aired a series of micro-movies about the Olympic journeys of common Chinese people. “Happy Backpackers” inspired many consumers to take up the sport for a healthier life. Zhang Guangzhu and Wang ZhongJin are an Beijing couple who became minor celebrities on the internet and national TV gallivanting around the world having visited over 40 countries. They post real-time updates of their trips on their blog, mostly on people and culture. They travel on buses, visit farmers markets, and chat with the locals using broken English. Their widely publicized escapades were unthinkable for Chinese seniors just a decade ago.
Charity is another area gathering momentum for Chinese consumers. Today, a person’s stature is longer simply measured by money and power but bound up with how actively they engage in charitable and socially responsible activities. In addition to charitable acts and donations on their own, people can give through consuming or participate in activities organized by marketers. They can take part in microblog charities that allow them to “donate while purchasing” or “donate while forwarding (microblogs).” Through consuming and contributing, they raise both their self-esteem and image.
More and more marketers and promotions are also getting on the microblog bandwagon for charitable activities since information spreads quickly on the Internet, amplified by China’s hordes of microbloggers. Exhortations like “donate while you forward (your microblog)” and “donate by buying” are frequently used. These activities improve the image of companies and brands while raising awareness about and aiding the downtrodden.
In its second year, “an egg’s long trek” is jointly organized by MSN China and Shanghai United Foundation. Through trekking and collecting sponsorship money, volunteers in Shanghai were able to raise 2.14 million RMB for poor children in remote mountainous areas. Within a few months to spring 2012, their ranks have swelled from 122 teams and nearly one thousand registered participants to 208 teams with more than two thousand trekkers.
Other trends cited in the MEC/CIC survey include: micro-ads on 360buy.com, the popularity of rebate websites such as 51fanli.com, and the exploding trend of payments via mobile phones; the “kids too” and “parent and child together” phenomena, “Cloud Classroom” learning, and general splurging on early child education; the emergence of “go-betweens” where intermediaries step in to do things not done by consumers themselves – purchasing agents, carpooling and Happy Farm mentioned in Part I; and “crossover”, integrating online and offline platforms, celebrities joining forces with stars in other sectors, and merging the 2D world of anime, comics and games (ACG) with the physical world.