Guangzhou Attracts Investment

Welcome to our weekly edition of Biz Buzz, looking at the emerging trends in the Chinese business world. On this week's show, we get perspectives on China's overseas tourism, Guangzhou attracting investment as well as brands situational equity. Selected News: Q&A: China's Overseas Tourism According to official Chinese figures, 97 million Chinese citizens went abroad on holidays last year. The Chinese Tourism Academy estimates that by 2020 there could be as many as 200 million Chinese tourists traveling abroad. The trend presents challenges to tourist industries in foreign countries, which have much to gain from Chinese tourists but do not necessarily have the cultural or linguistic means by which to truly take advantage of the market. For more about Chinese overseas tourism, Nathan Wakelin-king speaks with Dr. David Beirman, a tourism expert at the University of Technology, Sydney in Australia. ----------------------- Report: Guangzhou Attracts Investment Guangzhou, capital city of southern China's Guangdong province, has held a promotion event for its businesses. The city promoted nearly 70 projects in various areas, including transport, hospitals and commercial service to attract investment. Wang Jianlin is Chairman of Wanda Group, one of China's largest conglomerates, which has commercial property development, luxury hotels and department stores. He says Wanda has been impressed by the way that Guangzhou enterprises doing business. "Guangzhou has a strong 'spirit of deal'. We have already invested in six projects, with a total investment of 50 million yuan." Wang Jianlin adds that Wanda Group will start to build a huge indoor ski resort in Guangzhou this June, and some of Wanda's financial services will begin operating in the city as well. In addition to attracting domestic investors, Guangzhou has also grabbed the attention of many foreign investors. LG Display from South Korea has been doing business in Guangzhou for seven years. LG's Guangzhou general manager, Cui Zaiyi, elaborates on the reason that they invest in the Guangdong capital. "Guangzhou's city government gives us a lot of support. If we have any problems, we could ask the local government for help. The city provides very good services to enterprises." Guangzhou is also looking at the bigger picture. So far, it has had nine bilateral business committees in cities including Johannesburg, South Africa, Moscow, Russia and Vancouver, Canada. The city plans to promote itself more widely and effectively both home and abroad. -------------------------- Q&A: Brands Situational Equity Now let's talk about how brands can do better. Situational equity is a concept introduced first and only by TNS, which advises worldwide clients on specific growth strategies. Situational equity is the measure of a brand's power in the mind in particular contexts, rises and falls. It is used to analyze the bigger fluctuations that consuming markets might see. Keeping this in mind may help marketers make the right decisions in different contexts. For more, Luo Yu speaks with Rosie Hawkins, Global Head of Brand & Communications, TNS China, leading custom market research agency in China. Rosie wrote an article about situational equity and how it may influence Chinese consumer markets. And that's all we have time for on Biz Buzz this episode. Remember you can get in touch with us with any questions or comments at newsplus@cri.com.cn or visit our website newsplusradio.cn. Biz Buzz is aired every Saturday on FM91.5 and AM846 in Beijing and other overseas stations. For program producer Chen Mo, I'm Wu You, thank you for listening.