China is the second largest economy after the US economy with a nominal GDP of US$10.380 trillion (World Bank, 2015). In 2015, China recorded 1.6% GDP growth rate and a nominal GDP per capita of US$ 12,280 (World Bank, 2015). Considering the purchasing power parity (PPP) China would have the world largest economy with an estimated PPP GDP of $US 17.617 trillion. Between 2001 and 2010, China experienced an average annual GDP of 10.5% largely driven by exports (World Bank, 2015).
China has more than 2.4 million millionaire households making China the second country with the highest number of millionaires after the US. However, Wealth distribution in China is highly skewed with the top quintile owning more than 50% of the wealth while the bottom quintile own less than 5% of the wealth (World Bank, 2015). In 2014, China Gini coefficient was 0.491 significantly above the warning level set by United Nations of 0.40 (World Bank, 2015). As of 2015, there were 962,000 unemployed people translating to an unemployment rate of 4.05% (World Bank, 2015).
The main modes of transport available in China include road, air, and railway. China has an extensive road network comprising of expressways and national highways. In 2011, China had the longest road network in the world with over 85,000 kilometers of road network (World Bank, 2015). In 2012, China had 182 commercial airports and the number was expected to increase to more than 230 commercial airports by end of 2015 (The Telegraph, 2012). By end of 2011, China aviation industry had a fleet of 2,888 commercial planes and employed over 1.2 million people (The Telegraph, 2012). In 2013, China had 103,144 kilometers of railway tracks making it the third longest railway network in the world (Lei 2015).
Information on Channels of Distribution and Media Availability
In 2004, China liberalized the commercial sector (Inter China, 2009). In 2005, the Ministry of Commerce issued guidelines that allowed foreign invested manufacturers to engage in distribution (Inter China, 2009). The main distribution channels include; wholesale markets, domestic distributors, and retail distributors (Inter China, 2009). The Wholesale markets are found in most major cities such as Beijing and Shandong. Wholesale markets are ideal channels for reaching to rural towns and villages (Inter China, 2009).
Most of the domestic distributors operate both as wholesale and retail operations however, domestic distributors are weak in transport and warehousing, financing, and low branch network (Inter China, 2009). Retail sales have grown tremendously since the early 1990s; the growth led to several chain stores expanding their branches rapidly (Inter China, 2009). China retail structure includes:
Mom and pop kiosks – usually small family owned stores, as of 2004, there were 39.2 million units (Inter China, 2009).
Supermarkets have rapidly increased and there are more than 60,000 units (Inter China, 2009).
Convenience stores
Hypermarkets that have a size of more than 2,500 square meters or stock above 5,00o items are catching on quickly in china (Inter China, 2009).
China media landscape includes Television, Radio, Internet, and print media (CMM Intelligence, 2009). As of 2009, there were 9468 Magazines, 1938 Newspapers, and 578 publishing houses (CMM Intelligence, 2009). As of 2009, 396 million households owned a television set representing a 98.81% TV penetration, there were 136 million cable TV subscribers and 1,268 TV channels (CMM Intelligence, 2009). In 2009, the rural people received an average of 36 channels while their urban counterparts received an average of 60 channels (CMM Intelligence, 2009).
Reference list
CMM Inteligence. (2009). China Media Monitoring. Retrieved February 4, 2016, from
http://www.chinaforumbayern.de/fileadmin/media/Veranstaltung/Breakfastclub/Review_290908.pdf
Inter China. (2009). Distribution In China. Retrieved February 4, 2016, from
http://www.casaasia.es/pdf/3170915241PM1237294361390.pdf
Lei, Z. (2015). China's high-speed rail network is on the global fast track. Retrieved
February 04, 2016, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/china-watch/technology/11540416/chinas-high-speed-rail-network.html
The Telegraph (2012). China to build 70 airports by 2015. (2012). Retrieved February 04,
2016, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/9323617/China-to-build-70-airports-by-2015.html
World Bank. (2015). China. Retrieved February 04, 2016, from
http://data.worldbank.org/country/china
