西方人是如何看待中国人的消费习惯的。

习惯的。

Consumer goods

The mystery of the Chinese consumer

神秘的中国消费者

In the first of a two-part series on Asian consumers, we ask what makes the Middle Kingdom’s shoppers tick

在关于亚洲消费者的2部分系列报道中，我们讲讨论，中央大国的消费者，是如何消费的

Jul 7th 2011 | SHANGHAI | from the print edition

·2011年7月7日，上海

·

LILY LI wears a lanyard with a little plastic card around her neck, even at weekends. It is a badge of honour: it shows that she has a white-collar job. (She is a secretary at Access Asia, a retail-research company in Shanghai.) She uses Apple earphones for the cheap Chinese mobile phone in her pocket, so it looks as if she owns an iPhone. And she drives to work, though it takes four times longer than public transport, just to show off her little car.

李丽丽脖子上的挂绳上，是一个塑料卡片，即使在周末，她也这样挂着。因为这是一种荣誉：这表示她拥有一份白领工作。（她是Access Asia公司的秘书，这是一家上海的零售调研公司）。她口袋里的手机是廉价的中国货，但耳机是苹果的，这给人一种她有苹果手机Iphone的假象。她每天开着她的小汽车上班，只是为了炫耀，但上班所用的时间是乘坐公共交通的4倍。

After decades of deprivation and conformism, Chinese consumers regard expensive consumer goods as trophies of success. In public, they show off. In private, they pinch pennies. The owner of a gleaming new BMW will drive around for half an hour to avoid a 50 cent parking fee. And she will hesitate to spend much on interior decoration, because only her family sees the inside of her flat.

几十年的贫苦和因循守旧已经成为过去，现在中国的消费者把昂贵的消费品作为成功的象征。

在公共场合，他们炫耀；在私下里，即使连几分钱他们也要计较。开着闪亮宝马轿车的车主，可以为了避免5毛钱的停车费而开车转上半个小时。她也不愿在她的宝马内饰上花钱，因为只有她的家人可以看到她车里是什么样子。

By some forecasts China will be the second-largest consumer market in the world by 2015, not far behind America. Chinese people already buy more cars than people in any other country: 13.5m last year to Americans’ 11.6m. China is on its way to becoming the biggest luxury-goods market. The central government made an increase in domestic consumption one of the priorities of its latest five-year plan.

有人预测，到2015年，中国将成为世界第二大消费市场，仅仅落后于美国。目前，中国的汽车消费数量已经世界第一：上一年度，中国消费1350万辆，而美国为1160万辆。中国也将成为世界上最大的奢侈品市场。中央政府已经优先将促进国内消费纳入上一个五年计划之中。

Small wonder that Western firms are piling in. O n July 4th Nestlé, the world’s largest food maker, confirmed that it is in talks with Hsu Fu Chi, one of China’s biggest makers of confectionery and baked goodies, with a view to buying the firm.

难怪，西方的企业都在试图挤入这个市场。7月4日，世界上最大的食品制造商雀巢证实，正在与中国最大的糖果制造商进行谈判，意图收购这家企业。

If a deal is sealed, it would be one of the largest foreign takeovers yet seen in China: Hsu Fu Chi is valued at $2.6 billion on the Singapore stock exchange. China is currently Nestlé’s ninth-biggest market, with sales of SFr2.8 billion ($2.7 billion) last year. That is less than half what Nestlé sells in Brazil, although China has seven times Brazil’s population. Hence Nestlé’s hunger for Hsu Fu Chi’s distribution network, and for its knowledge of what tickles Chinese taste buds.

如果这桩交易达成的话，将成为中国目前最大的外资收购案例之一。徐福记在新加坡证券交易所上市，市值26亿美元。中国是雀巢的第九大市场，上年度销售额达到28亿瑞士法郎，合27亿美元。和巴西相比，尽管中国人口为巴西的7倍，但销售额还不及巴西的一半。因此，雀巢十分渴望得到徐福记的销售网络，也能由此掌握中国消费者的口味。

“Understanding the consumer is the most important thing for us,” says Paul Bulcke, the boss of Nestlé. The food business is more local than almost any other—trying to sell cheese in China is like trying to sell stinky tofu in Switzerland. Nestlé has been sniffing around for takeover targets in China for the past two years. Hsu Fu Chi is not its first bite. In April it took a controlling stake in Yinlu Foods Group, a family-owned maker of peanut milk and canned rice porridge.

雀巢老板Paul Bulcke说，“理解消费者的需求对我们而言至关重要”。食品行业是本土化最高的行业，如果你要在中国销售奶酪，就如同在瑞士销售臭豆腐一样困难。在最近两年，雀巢一直在寻觅收购的目标，而徐福记也不是雀巢的第一次尝试。在4月，雀巢取得了银鹭食

品集团的控股权，银鹭是一家生产花生奶和罐装八宝粥的家族企业。

Multinational firms trying to woo Chinese consumers have so far concentrated on the country’s thriving coastal regions. P&G, an American maker of shampoo, toothpaste and other sundries, has its Chinese headquarters in Guangzhou. Its Anglo-Dut ch rival Unilever’s home is in Shanghai. Yet both firms are preparing for a “second consumer revolution” among the 665m Chinese who live in rural areas. The income gap between China’s coastal cities and rustic interior is still six-to-one, but rural incomes are rising and 665m heads could use a whole lot of shampoo.

跨国企业都想拉拢中国的消费者，这些主要集中在沿海地区。美国的洗发水、牙膏和其他日用品制造商保洁公司，将总部设在了广州。而其竞争对手-联合利华，总部设在上海。尽管总部都设在东部地区，但两家企业都在为生活在中国农村地区的6.65亿人口的第二次消费革命做准备。尽管中国东部沿海城市和内陆农村地区的收入差距仍然高达6：1，但农村人口的收入在不断增加，6.65亿人口能够消费大量的洗发水。

Th e Chinese government presents its own unique challenges. “Everything is political,” says James McGregor, a former head of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. “This is a government that lets foreign companies build market share when it needs them.” I ts longer-term goal is to learn enough from foreigners so it can build its own national champions. To this end, it pushes foreign carmakers, among others, into unhappy partnerships with Chinese state-owned firms.

中国政府也是一个独特的挑战。前任美国在华商会会长McGregor说，“任何事务都具有政治色彩，当中国政府需要外国公司获得一定的市场份额时，才会这么做，而中国政府的长期目标是从外国公司那里学习到足够的技术经验，以便建立有竞争优势的企业。为此，中国政府强迫进入中国的外国汽车企业与国有的汽车企业建立合作关系。

Almost all Western consumer-goods makers have felt Beijing’s heavy hand. Bernard Arnault, the boss of Mo?t Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH), a luxury-goods firm, was summoned by the Chinese ambassador in Paris in 2008 for a high-decibel dressing down after Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s president, said he would meet the Dalai Lama. In the following weeks scores of women marched into Louis Vuitton shops in China with fake Louis Vuitton handbags and brazenly demanded their money back.

几乎所有的西方消费品制造企业都感受到了北京的干预。在2008年法国总统萨科奇表示即将会见达赖喇嘛之后，奢侈品制造企业路易斯威登的老总，就被中国驻巴黎大使馆召见，并且痛斥了一顿。在后来的几周里，一些女人就来到中国路易斯威登的商店，拿着假冒的手提包，厚颜无耻的要求退款。

Unilever got into trouble recently for hinting that the price of some of its products would rise. The Chinese government is terrified of inflation, which it fears might spark unrest. It accused Unilever of inciting shoppers to hoard its products, and slapped it with a hefty fine. Yet Harish Manwani, Unilever’s chief operating officer, is undeterred. He is planning to increase Unilever’s business in China four- or fivefold in the next few years.

联合利华最近也陷入了麻烦，原因是其暗示某些产品将要涨价。中国政府由于惧怕通胀压力而引起骚乱，指责联合利华诱使消费者囤积产品，并以此对其进行了重罚。但是，联合利华的运营主管Harish Manwani并没有惧怕，他计划在接下来的几年内将联合利华的中国销售额提高4至5倍。

Buttering up local party bosses

讨好地方官员

The central government is not the only problem. Companies need to cultivate cordial relations with local potentates, too. Often the provincial governor’s say-so is needed to obtain land, employment licences and a stack of other bits of paper a firm needs to operate. Local party bosses tend to favour local Chinese firms—another reason why tie-ups can be helpful.

中央政府并不是外企面临的唯一麻烦。外企也需要与地方当权者建立良好关系。通常，省长的一句话，就能决定企业能否获得土地、雇佣执照和公司运营所需一系列的文件。通常，当地的官员比较照顾当地的中国企业，因此，与官员建立良好关系非常重要。

Another big challenge for Western multinationals is that their Chinese rivals are catching up fast. “Domestic players will be ferocious competitors,” predicts Derek Sulger at Lunar Capital, a private-equity firm in Shanghai.

西方跨国企业所面临的另一个问题，是中国企业正在快速赶上。上海的一家私营企业Lunar Capital的Derek Sulger预计，中国国内的企业将成为外企的强有力的竞争对手。

For now, Western firms enjoy a lucrative reputation for quality and safety. Lead pollution from local tinfoil-making workshops in Zhejiang province recently injured 103 children and scores of adults. Chinese consumers are as averse as anyone else to being poisoned, so such incidents persuade many to buy Western brands. But domestic companies can make things much more cheaply, and their quality is improving.

但是，西方企业的一个优势是气品质和安全性能。最近，浙江省的一家锡纸制造企业发生了一起铅污染事故，造成103名儿童和若干成年人受到伤害。与所有其他国家的消费者一样，中国的消费者也不愿意中毒，因此，这样的事故使得很多消费者更愿意购买西方品牌的产品。但本土企业的产品价格更低廉，而品质也在逐步提高。

Some Western consumer-goods firms that are also-rans at home do surprisingly well in China. Back in America, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC, part of Yum! Brands) is dwarfed by McDonald’s. In China it has 3,300 restaurants—more than three times as many as its rival—and opens a new one each day. The secret of its popularity is local managers with the freedom to adapt KFC’s offerings to the Chinese palate. That means fewer bargain buckets of wings and more congee, a rice porridge with pork, pickles or mushrooms.

而其他的一些西方企业，在中国的业绩很突出。在美国，肯德基要逊色于麦当劳。但在中国，肯德基拥有3300家连锁店，数量是麦当劳的3倍还多，并且仍在以每天1家新店的速度在扩张。肯德基收到如此欢迎，秘密在于其当地的经理们可以自由的将肯德基的食品本土化，以迎合中国消费者的胃口。例如，肯德基减少了廉价的鸡翅，提供了中国人喜爱的米粥，米粥里有肉、腌菜或蘑菇。

Other Western firms can’t cope. Home Depot, an American DIY chain, is retreating from China after trying for years to persuade middle-class Chinese people to decorate their own homes.

而一些其他的企业未能做到本土化。Home Depot是一家美国的自助式连锁店，该企业经历了数年的努力，仍未能吸引中产顾客按照其方式进行装修，该企业即将撤出中国市场。

Home Depot “didn’t understand the market for home decoration,” says Ben Cavender at China Market Research in Shanghai. Chinese people typically have no garages in which to store tools. And there are legions of poor people who will paint and decorate for low wages. The middle classes tend to hire decoration companies, which subcontract to whichever construction firm pays the best kickbacks. At the beginning of this year Home Depot closed its last shop in Beijing. It now has only seven stores on the Chinese mainland.

在上海的中国市场调研机构的Ben Cavender指出，Home Depot并不了解中国的装修习惯。中国的家庭一般没有车库来储藏工具。并且有大量的穷人愿意低价提供装修服务。中产阶层更喜欢聘请装修公司，而装修公司会把装修任务分包给出价最低的施工单位。今年年初，Home Depot关闭了北京的最后一家店面，目前在中国大陆仅剩7家店面。

In a recent report on market dynamics and a profile of the Chinese consumer, Bernstein Research offers several tips to help Western consumer-goods firms profit from the “second consumer revolution”. Don’t offer too many brands: offer only a f ew, but produce in quantity to exploit economies of scale. Keep improving your products and (crucially) the packaging; otherwise you won’t keep pace with such a fast-changing market. Build an efficient distribution network early on—delivering goods to inland shelves is hard. And court talent tenaciously. Few employees are loyal, and few want to work in the countryside, even if they were born there. Finally, be patient. It may be years before your Chinese operations make money.

在最近的一个关于中国市场动态和消费者介绍的报告中，Bernstein Research机构为西方消费品企业提供了几点建议，为了在第二次消费者革命中取得成绩，要做到：首先，不要提供太多的品牌，并且要大规模生产，取得规模效益，否则，你不可能适应这个万变的市场；其次，尽早建立高效的分销网络，因为向农村地区配货是很困难的；第三，要招揽长期工作的人才，因为很多人并不完全忠于企业，即使很多人出生在农村，但也不愿意到农村去工作；最后，要耐心。要最终实现盈利，可能需要几年的努力。

Bernstein could have added: beware. The rules in China are still being written. Different arms of government may interpret them differently (see next article). And if someone in power changes

his mind, there is not much you can do about it.

Bernstein还应该再加一点：要谨慎。中国的法律法规仍需完善。而不同级别的政府可能对同一法规有不同的解释（见下篇文章）。如果某位当权者改变注意了，那么你对此无能为力。

Will the Chinese government allow Nestlé to buy Hsu Fu Chi? In 2009 it rejected a $2.4 billion bid by Coca-Cola to buy Huiyan Juice Group, a drinks firm, for no apparent reason. Analysts say that this is unlikely to happen again, ho wever. “The company is not strategically important and together Nestlé and Hsu Fu Chi would control only about 5% of the market,” says Jon Cox at Kepler Capital Markets in Zurich. As the world’s largest chocolate-maker Nestlé has high hopes for a market of more than a billion people who currently eat shamefully little chocolate.

中国政府会批准雀巢收购徐福记么？2009年，中国政府拒绝了雀巢公司24亿美元收购果汁制造企业汇源果汁集团的提案，原因不详。但有些分析人士认为本次不会出现这样的事情。原因是徐福记并不是个战略上重要的企业，即使雀巢和徐福记一起，也仅能占有中国市场5%的占有率。作为世界上最大的巧克力制造企业，雀巢对拥有十几亿人口但人均巧克力消费低得可怜的中国市场抱有非常高的期望。

Much could go wrong. Many economists think Chinese households save too much. Some fear a property bubble or a banking crisis. The risks of selling consumer goods in China are immense. But so is the opportunity cost of staying away.

但事事都可能出错。许多经济学家认为，中国的家庭更喜欢储蓄。有些人担心房地产泡沫或银行业出现危机。在中国销售消费品的风险很大，但如果不参与这个市场，损失同样很大。