Subscribe

The only place you need to be in China is online

Opportunities from the growing Chinese middle class continue to emerge for companies around the world and there’s no bigger opportunity than the online market. 

Indeed, internet commerce has made selling products into mainland China easier than ever before.

" For foreign companies [e-commerce is] a relatively easy route to market."
Peter Osborne, Blackmore’s managing director in Asia

In 2014, the Chinese online market was a sizeable $US21 billion – but it’s expected to grow to $US245 billion by 2020, according to Ken Ma, Alibaba’s head of international business development in the Asia Pacific.

Selling through online marketplaces

Peter Osborne, Blackmores managing director in Asia says online sales into China in a big part of their business.

“About 80 per cent of our sales in China are online,” he says. “For foreign companies it’s a relatively easy route to market.

Osborne also touched on the importance on marketing on social media in China. Watch the video above to find out more.

Tim Harcourt is the JW Nevile Fellow in Economics at UNSW Business School.

The Airport Economist, hosted by regular BlueNotes contributor Tim Harcourt is your TV guide to doing business in Asia, and is shown on Sky News and now on Qantas. ANZ is proud to be a foundation partner of The Airport Economist.

The views and opinions expressed in this communication are those of the author and may not necessarily state or reflect those of ANZ.

editor's picks

07 Feb 2017

Five fintech trends for 2017

Derek Corcoran | Chief Experience Officer, Avoka

In 2017 the banking industry will inevitably continue on the path of digital transformation it has been – and accelerated – on over the past few years.

01 Feb 2017

Cracking down on cash is not enough

Andrew Cornell | Past Managing Editor, bluenotes

The shock-and-awe attack by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the cash economy, when he used his fiat powers to eradicate fiat currency – unilaterally cancelling high value currency notes – was just the latest in a long line of attempts to crush so-called 'black' economies.

30 Jan 2017

From the back of a garage to the top of NZ retail

Angela Barnett | BlueNotes contributing editor

When Shijin (Sking) Zeng, founder of one of Auckland’s largest online shops iFurniture, decided to move to New Zealand he dreamed of setting up his own business.