ABSTRACT
China is a vital market for foreign manufacturers both to target low cost production within China itself as well as for sales of goods produced overseas. This is linked to foreign direct investment in China and the rise in activities of foreign multinationals in a country with enormous and continual potential for growth. This chapter traces the fundamental changes in the consumer market over the period from 1949 to the present. It focuses on the foreign retailers and their impact on the consumer market. The marketing strategy abroad was coordinated through these agencies in USA and Europe. The chapter grapples with the main theories advanced on the Chinese consumer and consumption patterns in the contemporary period. It devotes analysis of a domestic Chinese retailer and its strategies for growth in particular into overseas markets. The chapter examines in some depth the four major types of Chinese retailers: national champions, exporting specialists, small entrepreneurs and technology firms.
