The Year of the Rooster
The most important event of the first quarter for our team was the Chinese New Year Spring Festival. The year of the Rooster symbolizes fidelity and punctuality, with its early morning crowing perceived as a call to action – urging us to roll up our sleeves and get to work. The holiday also rings in […]
Celebration of a strong 2016
This Chinese New Year, we celebrate the 15th anniversary of China’s accession to the World Trade Organization. GDP per capita now exceeds US$8,500, up from US$1,200 in 2001, and the World Bank classifies China as a middle-high income society. Morgan Stanley believes China will achieve high-income status by 2027, yet China only ranks as the […]
November E-Commerce Sales Show Strong Consumer
As we enter the year-end holiday season, the world’s two largest economies will generate tremendous levels of shopping both online and offline, bringing the sheer scale of China’s consumer growth into sharper focus. Double 11 – The online Chinese consumer is as healthy as ever Sales during November’s “Double 11” promotion reached 120.7bn yuan, or […]
Consumption Leading to a More Positive Experience with Family
As China addresses the sustainability of high growth rates and economic rebalancing away from export-and manufacturing-led growth, outlook for domestic consumers continues to grow increasingly positive as disposable incomes rise and unemployment remains low. China’s middle class, now more than 200 million, can afford basic necessities and are pursuing premium products and a well-balanced lifestyle […]
China’s “Post-90s” Treat Consumption Markedly Different than Previous Generations
The largest consumer nation in the world, the U.S., was heavily influenced by the consumption habits of those born in the 50s and 60s – baby boomers. Similarly in China, strong consumption growth is now coming from dynamic spending habits of the post-90s generation (“九零后”). Like the baby boomer generation in the U.S., the post-90s […]
China’s Family Businesses Sell Out to Private Equity
After spending half his lifetime building the family snack food company in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, Yao Weizhong had run out of steam. His 22-year-old son showed little interest in the business, and Yao needed fresh capital and expertise to keep it growing. So Yao, 48, chose a path taken by a growing […]
Lunar 2016 Outlook Remains Positive
We started 2015 with enthusiasm for the Chinese consumer, A-shares generating 53% annualized returns, and healthy private equity performance. This year begins with severe pessimism about China’s economic transition, public markets all sharply lower, and private equity returns in question. One friend complained that his clients were demanding to know why anyone even still focuses […]
