CHINA'S NEW CONSUMERS: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND DOMESTIC DEMAND

The mesmerizing potential of 1.3 billion customers has long constituted 'a magic market' for foreign entrepreneurs who once again are queuing to take advantage of China's fast-growing economy and rapidly changing society. Now, to counter a growing reliance on the markets of the world for exports, China's government too has turned to developing its own domestic markets by placing the expansion of domestic demand high on the nation's agenda. This book explores China's consumer revolution over the past three decades and shows a continuing cycle leading to excess supply and disappointing demand at the center of which lies exaggerated expectations of China's new consumers. Elisabeth Croll details the livelihoods and lifestyles of China's new and evolving social categories who, divided by wealth, location and generation, have both benefited from and been disadvantaged by the past two decades of reform and rapid economic growth. Given that consumption is about so much more than shopping and spending, this book focuses on the perceptions, priorities and concerns of China's new consumers which are an essential part of any contemporary narrative about China's domestic market. Documenting the social consequences of several decades of rapid economic growth and the new interest in 'all-round' social development, China's New Consumers will be of value to students, entrepreneurs and a wide variety of readers who are interested in social trends and concerns in China today.