With the passage of China’s Twelfth Five Year Economic Plan, China will focus less on GDP as the key indicator of economic development over the next five years. Instead, China must face the significant issues of income distribution and the expansion of domestic consumption. As the Asia/Pacific region’s engine of economic growth, China needs to be constantly aware of the economic development and the disposition of consumers in neighboring countries in order to create better economic synergies. To enable our strategic partners to better understand trends and dynamics of consumption in the Greater China Region, MasterCard specifically introduced a series of index surveys with the aim of promoting mutually synergistic development in the region.
According to the recent MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence survey, consumers across the Asia/Pacific region are approaching the next six months with a steady sense of optimism. Of the 14 surveyed markets in Asia/Pacific region, consumers in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong remain the most positive. MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Spending Capabilities, a separate survey, indicates that a robust turnaround in consumer spending is expected in 2010 across the Asia/Pacific, with double-digit retail sales growth predicted in China and Hong Kong as a result of improving fundamentals.
From a demographic perspective, the trend that respondents in China below the age of 30 are more optimistic than their older counterparts (84.2 for those below 30 vs. 82.4 for those above 30) is noteworthy. A similar trend is also observed in Hong Kong (83.3 vs. 74.4) and Taiwan (67.3 vs. 64.9). Along Gender lines, female consumers are more confident than their male counterparts in both Hong Kong and China (China: 84 for females vs. 82.1 for males , Hong Kong: 80.3 vs. 73.4). However, this trend is reversed in Taiwan with 66.7 of male respondents being optimistic towards the six months ahead over 64.4 in female respondents.
MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence (2H 2010) – Greater Chinese Region.
| MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence |
|
Combined Index |
Stock Market
|
Employment
|
Economy |
Regular Income |
Quality of Life
|
China |
83.0 (3) |
67.9 (9) |
79.8 (4) |
90.3 (3) |
88.0 (2) |
89.2 (2) |
Hong Kong
|
76.6 (4) |
79.2 (4) |
83.3 (3) |
83.8 (4) |
75.0 (6) |
61.7 (6) |
Taiwan |
65.7 (9) |
69.6 (6) |
72.1 (7) |
73.5 (6) |
64.3 (11) |
49.2 (10) |
Asia/Pacific Average |
69.1 |
68.3 |
68.8 |
72.6 |
73.5 |
62.4 |
On the strength of improving fundamentals, consumer spending in the Greater China region in 2010 is set to see a strong rebound, with retail sales in China and Hong Kong expected to see double-digit growth. As the spending capability of consumers in Greater China rises, how will they prioritize their spending?
According to a study by MasterCard, dining remains the top priority for consumers in the Greater China region with 45% of respondents in China, 61% of respondents in Taiwan and 68% of those surveyed in Hong Kong planning to spending on Dining and Entertainment in the six months ahead. In China, Fashion and Accessories came in second (41%), followed by Consumer Electronics (39%), Fitness and Wellness and Travel (both 22%). Other than Dining and Entertainment, consumers in Hong Kong are willing to spend on Travel (56%), Consumer Electronics (53%) and Fashion and Accessories (47%). Taiwanese consumers preferred investing in Consumer Electronics (50%) and rejuvenating themselves by spending on Fashion and Accessories (40%).
In comparison to the rest of the Asia/Pacific markets, the Greater China region has shown the strongest consumer confidence and consumer spending capabilities. MasterCard believes that as the economy rebounds, this region will remain the most optimistic market in Asia/Pacific region for a significant amount of time to come.
MasterCard and its Suite of Research Properties
The MasterCard Worldwide Index suite of research products operate in Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa. These include the MasterCard survey on consumer purchasing priorities, MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Purchasing Resilience, MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence and MasterCard Worldwide Index of Women's Advancement etc.
Besides these, MasterCard also regularly releases Insights reports; the series represents in part its ongoing research and analysis of business dynamics, financial policies and regulatory activities in the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa region. Over 70 Insights reports have been produced since 2004. MasterCard has also released a series of four books on Asian consumer insights, authored by its Asia/Pacific economist, Dr. Yuwa Hedrick-Wong and published by John Wiley & Sons.
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