"SINGAPORE - While the world's economy is grappling with economic jitters stemmed from Europe and the United States, Asian countries are painstakingly tapping Chinese market as China's strong imports post as a dose of confidence amid the faltering external demand.
The resilience of the world's largest developing economy prompted many, including a World Bank economist, to recognize it as a positive factor for the Asia Pacific region, while Moody's Analysts said in a recent report that a "rising China lifts all boats" in the region.
Retailers expansion
Singapore's food and beverage retailer BreadTalk, which runs business in bakery, food court and franchised outlet, opened its 215th outlet in China recently.
The food retailer is just an example of the many foreign companies that have successfully grown their businesses by thriving in the Chinese mainland. Notably, they include not only infrastructure businesses but also consumer brands that explores the different tiers of cities.
The outlets of BreadTalk in China are distributed across the first- and second-tier cities. Shanghai and Beijing led with 33 and 25 outlets, respectively, while the number ranged from one to 13 for 40 other cities. It even started four outlets in the northern city of Harbin and five in the western inland city of Urumuqi, a provincial capital in Xinjiang.
George Quek, chairman and founder of BreadTalk, has said that the company would like to have 1,000 outlets by the end of 2012, of which at least 550 will be in China. Now it has about 500 outlets, of which 215 were opened in the Chinese mainland within eight years.
Many of the consumer brands from Singapore are quickly expanding their businesses beyond the first-tier cities in China. Brands such as Charles & Keith, Bee Chen Hiang and OSIM are eyeing the Chinese market, trade promotion agency International Enterprise Singapore said.
Aggressive developers
Not only the consumer brands are benefiting from China's growth. The trade promotion agency has urged Singapore firms to ride on the opportunities arising from the development of China's inland west regions.
CapitaLand, one of the largest developer in southeast Asia, recently led a consortium to win a bid to build a complex with a total investment of $3.3 billion in the southwestern city of Chongqing. The complex will be composed of eight buildings, including high-end residential units as well as a shopping mall. It will be designed by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie, who has designed the landmark casino resorts Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.
The Chongqing project is one of the largest investments made by CapitaLand in China. It will have a gross floor area of 817,000 square meters, with about 41 percent being residential and the rest retail and offices.
To bet on such an investment, CapitaLand must have had no less than complete confidence in the city's economy, including the consumers.
Liew Mun Leong, chief executive of Capitaland, compared Chongqing to Chicago of the United States, saying that it is expected to catch up with the coastal cities soon. George Yeo, former foreign minister of Singapore, also saw potentials and excitement in Chongqing, the supercity with a provincial status in the vast China's western regions, despite all the imbalances it may have.
CapitaLand has begun its investments in China with projects in first-tier cities such as Shanghai and Beijing, and then gradually expanded from the south to the north and now from the country's coastal east to the inland west.
Speaking of the Chinese economy at a recent forum, Liew said that he has confidence in the Chinese market in the long term.
"Can you tell me one market that is better than China for us?" he said, repeating his words in a conversation with a friend one year ago.
CapitaLand expected its assets in China to increase to 42 to 45 percent over the next three to five years from 35 percent now. Singapore's contribution will fall from 35 percent to 33 percent.
Other companies are also stepping up their expansion in China. Business conglomerate Keppel has numerous utilities projects in China while developer UOL Group runs mall and office projects.
Deepening cooperation
Chinese Ambassador to Singapore Wei Wei said that the cooperation between China and Singapore on the government level has been deepened, as it expanded from the country's relatively developed southern part to the north regions, and from the coastal areas to the inland provinces over the past two decades.
The bilateral cooperation has been steadily moving from manufacturing industry to the development of green economy.
Still many other projects were inaugurated in recent years such as the Nanjing Eco High-tech Island and the Guangzhou Knowledge City in the south, as well as the Jilin Food Zone in the north and the Singapore-Sichuan Hi-tech Innovation Park in the western city of Chengdu.
Singapore leaders like former prime minister Goh Chok Tong has called on local companies to ride on China's economic growth.
China accounted for about 20 percent of the 193 billion Singapore dollars ($151 billion) investment portfolio of Singapore's sovereign wealth fund Temasek, who appointed Ding Wei, a former senior management member of China International Capital Corporation, to head its China team earlier this year.
"Please remember that China is our leading investment destination and we are still looking for opportunities there," said Nagi Hamiyeh, Temasek's managing director for investment.
The Chinese unit of DBS saw a rise of 160 percent in its net profit in the first half, was also quickly expanding into many cities across China. Group chairman Peter Seah said that the bank would like to explore the potentials of the "the consumer market particularly in the mass affluent sector."
China factor
Glenn Levine, senior economist with Moody's Analytics, said in a recent report that "China's rise lifts everyone in Asia". He said that he was upbeat about the Asia Pacific economies across the medium term, and that "China, the number-one export market for almost every country in Asia, is the main reason".
Besides a powerful exporter, China is also a quickly growing source of tourists.
The Singapore Tourism Board kicked off its customized marketing campaign in Beijing in early December, targeting Chinese tourists who are "increasingly traveling as free, independent travelers" while they "still come on packaged tours."
Singapore is not the only economy benefiting from China's growth. The Australian economy surprised many recently with a growth of one percent in the third quarter, and the demand for resources from the industrializing economies of China as well as India were widely believed to be a key support factor.
South Korean machinery exporters are riding the investment cycle, automakers in Japan and South Korea sell cars to the rising Chinese consumer, and Australia was driven by its demand for resources, he said.
The World Bank also said in its latest economic updates that resource-rich countries like Indonesia and Mongolia are benefiting from China's growth, too.
Growing importer
Levine said China is heading for a soft landing in 2012, as economic growth expected to slow from 9.5 percent in the first half of 2011 towards 8 percent by mid-2012 on weaker export growth and slightly softer domestic demand, especially investment. Nevertheless, this is exactly what policymakers have been targeting -- a slowdown in export and investment growth with a steady rebalancing towards domestic demand.
The World Bank, which projects a soft landing for China, also said that China's demand for imported consumer goods has been increasing.
Bert Hofman, the bank's chief economist for East Asia and Pacific, said he saw a shift in the demand pattern of China so that the country is increasingly important as a market for final consumer goods, though it is not yet big enough to make up for the loss in consumer demand from the developed markets.
China's trade balance with developing East Asia improved in East Asia's favor during the recovery, too, Hofman said.
"China's imports grew more quickly than China's exports. So it does mean a bit of an improvement in the current account. It also means an opportunity for the rest of East Asia to increasingly export goods to China. Within the rapidly growing imports, you also see consumer demand, final consumer demand over consumer goods, is increasing from China," he said."
Resilient China's economy helps lift all boats|Economy|chinadaily.com.cn
The resilience of the world's largest developing economy prompted many, including a World Bank economist, to recognize it as a positive factor for the Asia Pacific region, while Moody's Analysts said in a recent report that a "rising China lifts all boats" in the region.
Retailers expansion
Singapore's food and beverage retailer BreadTalk, which runs business in bakery, food court and franchised outlet, opened its 215th outlet in China recently.
The food retailer is just an example of the many foreign companies that have successfully grown their businesses by thriving in the Chinese mainland. Notably, they include not only infrastructure businesses but also consumer brands that explores the different tiers of cities.
The outlets of BreadTalk in China are distributed across the first- and second-tier cities. Shanghai and Beijing led with 33 and 25 outlets, respectively, while the number ranged from one to 13 for 40 other cities. It even started four outlets in the northern city of Harbin and five in the western inland city of Urumuqi, a provincial capital in Xinjiang.
George Quek, chairman and founder of BreadTalk, has said that the company would like to have 1,000 outlets by the end of 2012, of which at least 550 will be in China. Now it has about 500 outlets, of which 215 were opened in the Chinese mainland within eight years.
Many of the consumer brands from Singapore are quickly expanding their businesses beyond the first-tier cities in China. Brands such as Charles & Keith, Bee Chen Hiang and OSIM are eyeing the Chinese market, trade promotion agency International Enterprise Singapore said.
Aggressive developers
Not only the consumer brands are benefiting from China's growth. The trade promotion agency has urged Singapore firms to ride on the opportunities arising from the development of China's inland west regions.
CapitaLand, one of the largest developer in southeast Asia, recently led a consortium to win a bid to build a complex with a total investment of $3.3 billion in the southwestern city of Chongqing. The complex will be composed of eight buildings, including high-end residential units as well as a shopping mall. It will be designed by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie, who has designed the landmark casino resorts Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.
The Chongqing project is one of the largest investments made by CapitaLand in China. It will have a gross floor area of 817,000 square meters, with about 41 percent being residential and the rest retail and offices.
To bet on such an investment, CapitaLand must have had no less than complete confidence in the city's economy, including the consumers.
Liew Mun Leong, chief executive of Capitaland, compared Chongqing to Chicago of the United States, saying that it is expected to catch up with the coastal cities soon. George Yeo, former foreign minister of Singapore, also saw potentials and excitement in Chongqing, the supercity with a provincial status in the vast China's western regions, despite all the imbalances it may have.
CapitaLand has begun its investments in China with projects in first-tier cities such as Shanghai and Beijing, and then gradually expanded from the south to the north and now from the country's coastal east to the inland west.
Speaking of the Chinese economy at a recent forum, Liew said that he has confidence in the Chinese market in the long term.
"Can you tell me one market that is better than China for us?" he said, repeating his words in a conversation with a friend one year ago.
CapitaLand expected its assets in China to increase to 42 to 45 percent over the next three to five years from 35 percent now. Singapore's contribution will fall from 35 percent to 33 percent.
Other companies are also stepping up their expansion in China. Business conglomerate Keppel has numerous utilities projects in China while developer UOL Group runs mall and office projects.
Deepening cooperation
Chinese Ambassador to Singapore Wei Wei said that the cooperation between China and Singapore on the government level has been deepened, as it expanded from the country's relatively developed southern part to the north regions, and from the coastal areas to the inland provinces over the past two decades.
The bilateral cooperation has been steadily moving from manufacturing industry to the development of green economy.
Still many other projects were inaugurated in recent years such as the Nanjing Eco High-tech Island and the Guangzhou Knowledge City in the south, as well as the Jilin Food Zone in the north and the Singapore-Sichuan Hi-tech Innovation Park in the western city of Chengdu.
Singapore leaders like former prime minister Goh Chok Tong has called on local companies to ride on China's economic growth.
China accounted for about 20 percent of the 193 billion Singapore dollars ($151 billion) investment portfolio of Singapore's sovereign wealth fund Temasek, who appointed Ding Wei, a former senior management member of China International Capital Corporation, to head its China team earlier this year.
"Please remember that China is our leading investment destination and we are still looking for opportunities there," said Nagi Hamiyeh, Temasek's managing director for investment.
The Chinese unit of DBS saw a rise of 160 percent in its net profit in the first half, was also quickly expanding into many cities across China. Group chairman Peter Seah said that the bank would like to explore the potentials of the "the consumer market particularly in the mass affluent sector."
China factor
Glenn Levine, senior economist with Moody's Analytics, said in a recent report that "China's rise lifts everyone in Asia". He said that he was upbeat about the Asia Pacific economies across the medium term, and that "China, the number-one export market for almost every country in Asia, is the main reason".
Besides a powerful exporter, China is also a quickly growing source of tourists.
The Singapore Tourism Board kicked off its customized marketing campaign in Beijing in early December, targeting Chinese tourists who are "increasingly traveling as free, independent travelers" while they "still come on packaged tours."
Singapore is not the only economy benefiting from China's growth. The Australian economy surprised many recently with a growth of one percent in the third quarter, and the demand for resources from the industrializing economies of China as well as India were widely believed to be a key support factor.
South Korean machinery exporters are riding the investment cycle, automakers in Japan and South Korea sell cars to the rising Chinese consumer, and Australia was driven by its demand for resources, he said.
The World Bank also said in its latest economic updates that resource-rich countries like Indonesia and Mongolia are benefiting from China's growth, too.
Growing importer
Levine said China is heading for a soft landing in 2012, as economic growth expected to slow from 9.5 percent in the first half of 2011 towards 8 percent by mid-2012 on weaker export growth and slightly softer domestic demand, especially investment. Nevertheless, this is exactly what policymakers have been targeting -- a slowdown in export and investment growth with a steady rebalancing towards domestic demand.
The World Bank, which projects a soft landing for China, also said that China's demand for imported consumer goods has been increasing.
Bert Hofman, the bank's chief economist for East Asia and Pacific, said he saw a shift in the demand pattern of China so that the country is increasingly important as a market for final consumer goods, though it is not yet big enough to make up for the loss in consumer demand from the developed markets.
China's trade balance with developing East Asia improved in East Asia's favor during the recovery, too, Hofman said.
"China's imports grew more quickly than China's exports. So it does mean a bit of an improvement in the current account. It also means an opportunity for the rest of East Asia to increasingly export goods to China. Within the rapidly growing imports, you also see consumer demand, final consumer demand over consumer goods, is increasing from China," he said."
Resilient China's economy helps lift all boats|Economy|chinadaily.com.cn
