BCG - The Boston Consulting Group

The baby care market in China grew by double digit figures last year, stimulated by strong and sustainable drivers. To better explore this, BCG's Center of Consumer Insight (CCI) conducted large scale quantitative consumer research in China during the first half of 2010, comprised of thousands of samples from 28 cities, ranging from tier-1 to tier-6, and covering the nine main categories for the 0-3 year old baby market.

According to a report released by BCG, Threading the Needle: Value Creation In a Low-Growth Economy, companies from rapidly developing economies have come to dominate the Value Creators rankings.

That kind of urban progress inspired Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to release a report of its own this week. It argues that businessmen should look at emerging markets at the level of cities, not countries.

Christoph Nettesheim, a senior partner and managing director of BCG Greater China, said at the 2010 Summer Davos Forum in Tianjin that emerging cities represent the largest and most active demographic trend in the world; one-third of the world's population live in cities that are located in the emerging markets. By 2030, the number of emerging-market urban dwellers will increase by another 1.3 billion.

China's internet population uses the web mainly for instant messaging and online music, videos and games. But internet users in Brazil and Russia focus on search and e-mail, much like their peers in mature markets, according to a study by the Boston Consulting Group.

Companies with successful sales and distribution systems in China have adopted certain common best practices.

According to the statistics from the BCG, the total transaction volume of China's B2C (business to consumer) and C2C (consumer to consumer) websites reached $37 billion in 2009.

Chinese consumers are ready to shop but remain cautious in their spending, according to a recent survey by the Boston Consulting Group.

They ensure that the leadership group is aligned on the goals and means of change, and they transfer that alignment to employees through respect and empowerment and by giving them the structure and the tools to succeed. Finally, they alter course in response to input from their feedback systems. We call this process of alignment cascading change.

Hans-Paul Bürkner is the global CEO of BCG. His perspectives on financial service business are always brilliant and profound. Most of his audience and advice seekers are senior leaders of the most important players in the world.

Christoph Nettesheim, Senior partner and Managing Director of BCG Greater China shared his perspectives on extensive topics, including China's economy, corporate competency, labor market and business environment.

David Michael, a senior partner in BCG's Beijing office and lead author of the China's Digital Generations 2.0 report, talked about the insights into China's digital consumption trends.

A dramatic shift in the geographic distribution of consumer spending power is under way in China. The middle classes are expanding out beyond the largest cities more rapidly and in greater numbers than any market has ever witnessed.

To avoid becoming a victim of the merger, China's city commercial banks need a new and decisive “battle program”.

China had the world's fifth-largest population of millionaires in 2008, at 391,000, up 20 percent from the previous year.

Consumer goods market is divided into two consumption pools. As for high-end goods, consumers are trading up for high-quality ones; on the other hand, they are trading down for the ones with low price.

Banking industry still needs to act as the "blood transfusion tube" , and must be cautious about the trap that "increasing the loan means increasing the risk".

Banks are facing the double challenges of financial crisis and measures for supporting stimulating response. They will need to be cautious and selective, and review and make changes to their governance and management structures, in order to promote sustainable economic growth and protect themselves against deteriorating credit quality.

Rachel Lee of the Boston Consulting Group thinks firms like AstraZeneca bring much-needed professionalism to China’s drugs industry, once dominated by local generics firms notorious for relying on cronyism and kickbacks. Western firms are, she suggests, thus helping Chinese doctors shift towards “evidence based” medicine.

Chinese companies should focus on three initiatives to increase survival ability, boost profitability and retain client resources.