Marketing Issues in Modern China

In today's world market no one would deny the importance of China marketing and no one will ignore the increasingly tight connections between China and the rest of the world. "As China goes, so goes the world" has become almost a common sense shared by the business leaders of the world. China is roaring into the 21st century with the force of a locomotive and its economy has doubled almost every six years. The great changes that have been made by the Chinese people in every aspect not only impact the domestic market in China but also the international economy (Wu, 2009; Yu et al., 2006). In Karl Gerth's recently published book, As China Goes, So Goes the World (Gerth, 2010), the famous Harvard Business School Spangler Family Professor William Kirby claims that the changes that define Chinese markets today may transform the world in the future. More than thirty years ago the economic system of China was a centralized planning system that remained largely closed to international trade, in which the market mechanism played a limited role in the production and consumption process. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, China launched its economic system reform and open door campaign. It is this campaign that brought China into a market oriented economy, created a rapidly growing for-profit sector, and made China a major player in the global economy. As such the market mechanism has became an important factor in the economic development of China (Tian and Wang, 2003; Tian 2008). Measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis that adjusts for price differences, China in 2009 stood as the second largest economy in the world after the US, although in per capita terms the country is still lower middle-income (Central Intelligence Agency, 2010; Saxon, 2006). As the market oriented economic system in China is relatively new to the world, China marketing is even newer to marketers in the world. The new concept of China marketing refers to all the issues pertaining to effective marketing in China by domestic marketers and international marketers alike, issues including, but not limited to, product design and development, pricing strategy, distribution and logistics management, and advertising and promotions. As the market in China evolves and changes, marketing strategy must adapt to the changing environment. There is no doubt that the economic transition in China will definitely affect marketing strategies across a wide range of industries, namely telecommunications, the auto industry, the hospitality industry, the airline industry, textiles, cosmetics, and so on (Alon, 2003; Gerth, 2010).