Posted on 05/17/2019 1:54:15 AM PDT by Zhang Fei
ZHENGZHOU, China (Reuters) - Dressed in a smart black pantsuit behind the wheel of her pearl-white Audi, Zhao Na has come a long way from her roots in rural Henan province, in central China.
The 29-year-old real estate agent cheerfully admits to having shopaholic ways and a love of Louis Vuitton and Prada handbags, typifying a wave of free-spending consumers who have had the world’s top brands scrambling for a piece of China’s $5 trillion-plus retail market.
“When I am flush, I am happy to part with money,” said Zhao, who once splurged around 60,000 yuan ($9,000) on a clutch of handbags during a trip to Paris in 2017. “Spending makes me happy.”
But with China’s economy slowing, Zhao’s business has hit a wall and her income has plummeted, forcing her to shelve that source of happiness.
She has scrapped the European shopping trips and weaned herself off buying binges at her favorite mall, David Plaza, where giant digital screens flash advertisements for brands like Gucci, Lancome and Ermenegildo Zegna in the center of Zhengzhou, Henan’s capital.
“Not being able to spend money as I like makes me feel lousy, but I cannot do much about it,” Zhao said.
An economic slowdown in China, after three decades of unbridled growth, is being felt especially keenly by consumers like Zhao in Henan. The province, with its 100 million people, is a key pillar of China’s aspirations to transform its economy by boosting domestic spending and raising living standards in the country’s interior.
But according to dozens of interviews with consumers and merchants across Henan, as well as trade group data, people in the province are spending less on everything from cars and household appliances to clothing and cosmetics.
Scaled-back consumption by inland urbanites like Zhao could have serious repercussions for China’s
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Too bad, so sad...NOT!
BS....They’re spending the same....just getting less.
Which is why the democrats have always been comfortable pissing down the backs of Americans, to them, no mobs in the streets means no real opposition.
JMHo
“When I am flush, I am happy to part with money,” said Zhao, who once splurged around 60,000 yuan ($9,000) on a clutch of handbags during a trip to Paris in 2017. “Spending makes me happy.”
...
Jeopardy question:
What is the stereotypical female?
I was on a trip to New Zealand two years ago, and in the midst of Auckland is a Louis Vuitton shop. They had a guy at the door, managing (mostly limited entry flow). Only three customers at a time were being allowed into the shop. I stood there looking at the sales area via the window.....three Chinese tourist couples. There waiting at the door....another six Chinese couples. All waiting to buy their Louis Vuitton bags. Guaranteed purchase.
I saw the same thing in Barcelona this year, with Chinese tourists lined up to buy Louis Vuitton bags or 500 Euro shoes. All of these upscale shops know their customer line, and have the prices rigged to get maximum profit. If they aren’t moving x-number of high-end bags a month....they throw up some sale....buy one Louis Vuitton full-price and get the second one for half-off.
It is a long way from “The Good Earth”.
It took less than a generation...
Gosh, it’s almost like Communism totally failed in China or something. I mean, when does that EVER happen, that Communism fails? Karl Marx and his brain dead devotees are so sure that they are on the right side of history.
China, with somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.3 billion people, has a demographic problem caused by decades of the one child policy. Actually, it has two problems, both of which are demographically un-solvable and will eventually lead to a massive decline and probable collapse of their economy. Economic growth is provided by consumers between the ages of about 18 to 50. The one child policy means that demographic pyramid, young at the bottom and old at the tip, is diamond shaped. The cohort at the middle to lower range of the diamond is too small to provide the type of consumerism that is necessary to a growing consumer culture economy. Therefore, China must export in order to grow their economy.
The Western world, with the exception of the United States, is in the same demographic shape as China. But China’s problem is worse because males were more highly valued and thus large numbers of female babies were either killed at birth or aborted before birth. China doesn’t have the requisite females to recover from this demographic disaster. Even if every female of child bearing age started now it would still take 20 years for the new children to grow into productive adults and begin consuming.
China knows this which is one reason they are already cheating on the trade agreements. Another problem is the massive state run, state subsidized industries are hugely inefficient. Thus the state is losing money with every good they ship overseas. These problems are political, cultural and physical. They really can’t be resolved without another revolution. Societies that have never lived in freedom can’t have a revolution and produce something like the society that made America great. They will end up in another dictatorship, which is inherently inefficient when compared to a free society.
PRC tourists are flooding America .
Are they actually ‘tourists’ ?
“Gosh, it’s almost like Communism totally failed in China or something. I mean, when does that EVER happen, that Communism fails? Karl Marx and his brain dead devotees are so sure that they are on the right side of history.”
Having traveled extensively in the PRC and fam and I have done a two year expat stint, I can say that of the approx 1.2B people only about 300M are enjoying the fruits of the middle and upper class. And, virtually all of these are members of the Communist Party. Being a member of the party is the ticket to privilege and prosperity. Without it, you’re ox dung....
Bingo.
Good post.
“Which is why the democrats have always been comfortable pissing down the backs of Americans, to them, no mobs in the streets means no real opposition.”
The Republicans do the same thing.
The offshoring of jobs, industry and technology is the fault of the GOP not the Democrats. The Democrats ate the secondary infection.
This really tears me up inside.
“What is the stereotypical female?”
Is it a stereotype if it’s true?
“Spending makes me happy.”
Spending makes me nervous but i guess we live different lives.
I wouldn’t spend over 20 bucks for a purse....if i was a chick.
I did spend 900 dollars on a pair of sneakers though.
that’s different.
“Spending makes me happy.”
Spending makes me nervous but i guess we live different lives.
I wouldn’t spend over 20 bucks for a purse....if i was a chick.
I did spend 900 dollars on a pair of sneakers though.
that’s different.
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