MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION IN CHINA

General Information
China's consumer market is undergoing structural adjustments after 20 years of development. There are qualitative changes in the spending habits of consumers and it can be expected that during the Tenth Five-Year Plan (2001-2005), the consumption pattern in some Chinese cities will change from ¡°subsistence¡± mode to ¡°hedonist¡± mode which stresses the quality of life.

The policy of reform and opening up introduced at the end of 1978 marked a turning point in China's economic development. Throughout the Sixth Five-Year Plan (1981-85), Seventh Five-Year Plan (1986-90), Eighth Five-Year Plan (1991-95), and the current Ninth Five-Year Plan (1996-2000), the Chinese economy has been imbued with new vitality, making the transition from planned economy to market economy.

As the country emerges from isolation to integration into the international arena, its people are gradually moving from poverty towards a comfortably well-off life, driving the consumer mar...