"Golden Market" vied for by global merchants
In recent years as it has become a trend for residents in mainland China to travel abroad, their average spending has topped the world rankings. The latest statistics are courtesy of the Tax Free World Organization (TFWA) and AC Nielson. They suggest that in 2006 China beat all other countries with the total number of outbound trips at 34 million and the total that they spent overseas up to 24.32 billion USD; average shopping expenses being 1,081 euros, topping the world.
Meanwhile, with the development of online shopping, the overseas online shopping demand of Chinese domestic netizens has expanding extensively. Taobao (www.taobao.com), China's largest online shopping website, indicated that data from the Taobao global procurement channel (mainly as an agent of overseas shops) showed that average trading volume was 2.3 million in the first quarter of 2007 and 120 million in the fourth quarter, up 400% within the space of just one year.
China currently has 210 million netizens, expected to rise by 560 million in the next five years. An official survey predicted that in 2008 China's overall market size for individual online shopping is expected to exceed 100 billion yuan and could be as big as 280 billion in 2010 with a compound annual growth rate of over 60%. China is becoming a key market contended for by all global merchants, relying on its strong purchasing power and potential.