China wants more globally well-known brands

China’s tech brands may be known globally – think Lenovo, Huawei and Alibaba – but now the government wants the consumer goods sector to step up and achieve a similar status.

What’s happening?

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) is proposing guidelines aimed at encouraging product innovation in the country’s consumer goods enterprises. It wants to see more mid-to-high end products and more brands that resonate around the world, Reuters reports. 

Examples of innovation suggested by MIIT include computer-enabled rice cookers, shoes with location functions aimed at children and the elderly, lower-alcohol drinks for younger consumers.

Context

For several years Chinese consumer sentiment has been shifting in favour of local brands and this has been accelerated by the coronavirus. At the same time, Chinese consumer electronics and gaming brands have been making waves on the global stage; Kantar’s BrandZ tracks their progress and notes how some categories (including transportation apps, cars, and e-commerce) are faring better in emerging markets. 

Final thought

“When a brand becomes famous in a certain region or country, it can no longer just focus on the narrow idea of winning a large number of users in a low-cost way. Rather, it should aspire to align with the best brands and reach for aspirational goals” – Meng Hao, head of apps, large customer sales, Google China, in Brand Z’s Chinese Global Brand Builders 2021.

Sourced from Reuters, BrandZ [Image by Ramón Salinero on Unsplash]