Imports in China

So I'll put the photo challenge thing from my mind for a moment. I'm thinking of posting about it weekly, but that's only if I come up with the pictures in time. Let's go with something more factual which isn't from a news post, for a change. I'll tell you of Imports in China.

Have you ever found a product in China with a white sticker pasted on top of the regular product info sticker? Yeah, it's an import. If the Chinese are good at something, it's exporting. 

You will find imported goods only in the largest chain stores and marts of foreign origin. Seven Eleven will have some imports. Wall Mart will have imports, as will Costco, Tesco and such. The local Chinese supermarkets C&U, Hao You Duo and others will not. 

At some point most foreigners will crave a good from their home country, or at least something similar. Or if all else fails, they might crave something ... not Chinese. Perhaps I'm exaggerating, but you grow vary of Chinese goods and from time to time the imported items seem like a luxury to splurge on. And you go looking for what you find in your local chain stores.

You're in luck if you have a large shop in your area and you want cheese. Actually, with the dairy scare, foreign goods appear all the more enticing for the lao wai. You are also in luck if you like foreign beer, canned foods or expensive brand clothes (hell, even I have a Chinese made jacket with imported fabric.) But aside from those, you are out of luck.

Generally, this would not be a problem but for some items it's next to impossible to find imports and the local items leave a bit to be desired. Sausages spring to mind. And after eating a stick of meat with corn inside I know I've tried. 

So why is this? There exists a 1.3 billion people market opening up to foreigners by the day, eh? Yeah, good luck entering the market here. Your average consumer earns, on average, anything between 800 to 1500 RMB a month. Yes, the rich locals might find value in high quality expensive items and there exists the face culture which means they are willing to spend money on luxury. So imagine your target market is the small minority of wealthy city Chinamen. Consider the difficulty of entering a market where English is next to useless as a marketing tool. Remember it's a market where until the last few years you had to have a joint venture with locals to enter at all. All the while there are Chinese luxury brands coming up, competing with you for the wealthy locals. Suddenly your target market looks a lot smaller, with a lot more competition and risk.

I don't think it's an impossible market, as the people hopping in to Hong Kong to buy milk powder prove - there are opportunities for the brave, lucky and rich. But in the end it means imported goods are few and far between in select shops. 

A foreigner might think there exists a concrete difference between Asahi beer and Red Rock beer; not so much for the local consumer. They will drink beer. If they don't need to make face they can select the cheapest (and as an added benefit,) the lowest alcohol content beer. This goes for foodstuffs in general - and remember, for quite a large variety of other goods you can find cheap copies.

Believe me. If you ever end up drinking The Great Wall Cabernet Vine or Pearl River beer you too will think it's a cheap copy. 

OP out.