Contents
INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................1
1 CHINA’S OVERALL RETAIL MARKET..............................................................8
2 CHINA’S WHITE GOODS MARKET..................................................................13
3 CHINA’S CONSUMER ELECTRONICS MARKET.........................................24
4 APPLIANCE & ELECTRONICS RETAIL INDUSTRY BACKGROUND......37
5 MARKETING & DISTRIBUTION ........................................................................71
6 THE KEY RETAILERS.........................................................................................94
7 SWOT ANALYSIS .............................................................................................. 101
8 COMPANY PROFILES...................................................................................... 102
9 CONTACTS......................................................................................................... 144
10 RELEVANT EXHIBITIONS & TRADE FAIRS............................................. 146
APPENDIX: MARKET BACKGROUND............................................................ 148

Executive Summary
China remains the world’s fastest growing large economy, and foreign
investors and marketers continue to scope the country for new ways into the
growing wallets of Chinese consumers. The truth, of course, is that China is
a tough market anyway, and none perhaps is tougher than electronics and
appliances retailing. Tough, because the competition is so fierce, margins so
tight and, until recently, the available market was shrinking.
The rural rebate scheme for reduced price goods to rural consumers has
made the available market a lot bigger though, over the past few years.
Recent estimates of the 2009 Chinese New Year retail figures show that the
scheme is beginning to have a significant effect. Official estimates for the
CNY period show sales of household electric appliances grew by 17.8% over
the same period in 2008.
Margins may be tight, but when volume sales are surging ahead like this, the
retailers and manufacturers continue to have scope to make a profit, and this
is keeping the overall market very much alive. New entrants are still
appearing within the market, and the specialist retailers continue to be forced
to share the market with non-specialists, such as department stores, online
retailers and others.
This sector of the retail market is important beyond its own borders. It has
produced the largest retail companies in China, by turnover, and their
significance within the wider retail market, and the overall consumer
economy of China, cannot be ignored.