China’s population and changing demographics: Based on the 2020 Seventh National Population Census

According to data from China’s Seventh National Population Census released in May 2021, the country’s population reached 1,412 million in 2020, but with only marginal growth in the past decade. Notably, the age group of 60 and over has expanded significantly, up by 5.44% from the 2010 census, reflecting an ageing society in China. This […]
Six notable Chinese IPOs in 2021 Q2

The Chinese market keeps booming through 2021 Q2 fueled by vaccine rollouts and improved macroeconomic indicators. The target GDP growth rate in 2021 was set to be at least 6% at the National People’s Congress held in March. Chinese IPOs in 2021 Q2 will continue to prove resilient to challenging global economic conditions. Brief Review […]
How brands carve room for body positivity in China

Body positivity refers to the assertion that all people deserve to have a positive body image, regardless of society’s ideal shape, size, and appearance. The body positivity movement challenges existing social standards of what preferred body is, promotes the acceptance of all types of bodies, helps people build confidence and acceptance of their own bodies […]
Successful co-founders on how to scale a restaurant business in China by creating unique and adaptable restaurant brands: China Paradigm transcript #112 with Gennadii Bochkar and Chen Feng

Gennadii Bochkar and Chen Feng are co-founders of a chain of restaurant bars in China. Shanghai residents will be very familiar with some of their brands such as Bites & Brews, Blue Frog, Barbarian, and Nomad among others. Here, they offer insights into how to successfully scale a restaurant business in China. They don’t concentrate […]
How and why brands are using the direct to consumers business model (DTC) in China

Direct to consumers (DTC) is a business model when a manufacturer sells product directly to the end consumer, bypassing all intermediaries. It also includes a wide range of instruments which help to be closer to the consumers. DTC in China makes use of four types of social e-commerce, Pinduoduo – social e-commerce, WeChat – one […]
How Chinese people lose weight: Social listening exposes market demand

In 2019, one in five Chinese people were overweight. In combination with this statistic, the beauty standards in China are relatively unforgiving towards extra weight. As a result, China’s demand for weight loss is rising quickly. But to penetrate China’s weight loss market, the question is how do Chinese people lose weight? Chinese people are […]
How TsingTao Brewery is sponsoring the 2022 Winter Olympics with a goal to boost China’s image internationally

TsingTao Brewery Co. Ltd. 青岛啤酒 was founded in 1903 by Bavarian settlers in Qingdao, Shandong province. In 2020, the company generated approximately 27.8 billion yuan in revenue, a slight decrease from around 28 billion yuan in the previous year. (To learn more about the beer market in China.) Emerging trend Guochao has not bypassed the TsingTao brand In […]
Ramen Talk: The Chinese ramen brand filling the gap between ‘instant’ and ‘gourmet’

Ramen Talk, founded in Shanghai in September 2016, is an instant noodle company that aims to make restaurant quality comparable noodles. In April 2017, the Chinese instant noodle brand completed a 4 million RMB angel financing. Its GMV reached 250 million RMB in 2019, ranking first on Tmall list of instant food category. Download our […]
Coffee Pls, the Chinese instant coffee brand that’s crazy for co-branding

Coffee Pls, founded in 2014, is a Chinese coffee brand that focuses on affordable, high quality instant coffee in portable packaging. With a brand concept of “boutique and portable”, its main target market is female between 22 and 30 years old. In 2015, Coffee Pls entered Tmall and opened a flagship store. In 2020, the […]
The mindfulness economy in China and the APPs fostering inner peace in busy, white-collar workers

Meditation, a practice method derived from Buddhism, was popularized in 1960s, and has now lead to the creation of a global mindfulness economy. The wave of mindfulness culture started in 1969 when the molecular biologist Kabat-Zinn redefined American-style meditation as “Mindfulness”. Stripped of religious colors, it became a more extensive mental health therapy and began […]
Lenovo’s success: How a Chinese company with ‘state-roots’ conquered the global market

Lenovo is one of the leading manufacturers of laptops, smartphones, tablets and a variety of electronic accessories. The company is constantly developing, absorbing other brands. Its main advantage over competitors in the West is the introduction of innovative solutions and a good pricing policy. Below we examine the drivers of Lenovo’s global success. In July […]
NEIWAI X MANNER: Two Shanghai brands set the summer mood together

On April 18, two Shanghai brands NEIWAI (内外), the lingerie brand, together with MANNER, a coffee shop chain, announced the joint collaboration “NEIWAI x MANNER Special Tunning Series.” First, they launched a new series of matcha drinks. This series includes three products: Ice Matcha Latte (冰抹茶拿铁), Hot Matcha Latte (热抹茶拿铁) and Wizard of Oz (绿野仙踪) […]