China: The Consumer Revolution

Boon Ngee Cham is an associate professor specializing in Third World
politics at the Department of Political Science, Glendon College, York
University.

The Chinese revolution of 1949 began an era of building a planned
economy through the practice of self-reliance. During this period,
capital accumulation for infrastructural construction in industry and
agriculture was greatly facilitated by a policy aimed at satisfying the
basic needs of the population rather than encouraging mass consumption.
However, this situation began to change in 1979, when Deng Xiaoping
replaced the policy of self-reliance with that of “reform and opening
up.”

China has been the world’s fastest-growing economy and consumer
society since the late 1980s. The Chinese economy is expected to
overtake that of the United States by 2020. In the now-industrialized
countries, consumer society developed gradually over a long period of
time. In China, the trend toward mass consumption, which emerged in such
cities as Shanghai within a five-year period, is rapidly extending its
reach to the hinterland provinces.

Conghua Li, a leading China strategist with Toronto-based Deloitte &
Touche Consulting Group, has produced a valuable and insightful study of
the essential aspects of the unprecedented consumer revolution that is
unfolding in China. His book gives a clear picture of the scale and
scope of the emerging Chinese consumer market, and of the changing needs
and tastes of Chinese consumers. Li’s experience in helping
multinational companies expand into East Asia is most strongly reflected
in Chapter 7, in which he offers a wide range of strategic advice (based
on both personal observations and case studies) to companies and
businesspersons seeking opportunities in the Chinese market. Social
scientists interested in the profound societal changes sweeping through
China will also find Li’s book valuable.