In a recent report released by comScore, in terms of engagement among the top 20 most-visited properties in Asia Pacific, Tencent ranked as the most-engaging property with visitors averaging 6.5 hours on the site during the month, consuming 716 pages of content and visiting the property an average of 39 times.

Also read::Nearly 9 out of 10 Internet Users in Hong Kong View Online Video

Google recently released a list of 1000 most visited websites and these Chinese sites below are in top 100 in April 2010:

8. Baidu
9. qq.com
11. sina.com.cn
15. 163.com
16. taobao.com
17. soso.com
19. youku.com
21. sohu
28. tudou.com
33. tianya.cn
36. hao123.com
38. xunlei.com
46. sogou.com
47. 56.com
52. ku6.com
55. ifeng.com
62. alibaba.com
68. gougou.com
70. renren.com
82. alipay.com
98. mop.com

Also read::Top Video Sites in China & Market Statistics

Chinese consumers’ confidence has reached levels not seen since 2007, according to the China Economic Monitoring and Analysis Center (CEMAC), jointly run by China’s National Bureau of Statistics and the Nielsen Company.

For the survey, they interviewed over 3,500 Chinese shoppers in ities, towns and rural villages, and concluded that the consumer confidence index has risen 19 points, to 108, over the last twelve months. This significant jump is largely driven by growing confidence felt by consumers from central and rural areas, as well as big improvements in consumers’ perception of their local job market and personal finances.

via adage.com

Also read::China’s Consumer Confidence Reaches Highest Level Since 2007

China’s Q1 online advertising spend in 2010 showed strong growth, with an increase of 85.4% to 6.36 billion yuan (USD 931 million) compared to Q1 spend in 2009. Baidu leads China’s online advertising market in quarter one in 2010 with total sales of 1.293 billion yuan. The next five are:

• Taobao: 590m yuan
• Google China: 563m yuan
• Sina: 380m yuan
• Sohu: 290m yuan
• Tencent: 210m yuan

Web portals and search engines are the major source of online advertising. Mobile advertising spend increased by 30% to 250 million yuan, compared to Q4 2009.

Search Engine Spend in Q1 2010

Total spend on Baidu and Google together increased slightly to 97.3%; however, spend on baidu has gone up almost 4% to 67.8% while spend on Google dropped over 3% to 29.5%.

30% out of the total online advertising, 1.91 billion yuan were spent on search engine marketing, up 1.7%. Total 49.18 billion search queries were conducted in Q1 2010; queries on Baidu and Google combined represent 93.7%, followed by SoSo (3.5%) and Sogou (2%).

Visits to Baidu and Google in Q1 dropped by about 10%; but, visits to soso has gone up over 20%?

Also read::China Online Display Advertising Reached 18 Billion in 2009

China Online Payment Market - Q1 2009 to Q1 2010: green line indicates the growth compared to the previous quarter; blue line the year on year growth

According to iResearch, the first quarter of china’s online payment market in 2010 totaled to $212.1 billion yuan (US$31 billion) with an increase of 17.8% compared to Q4 2009.

iResearch estimated online payment industry will continue to maintain the momentum of rapid growth in the field.

Market Leader in China Online Payment

Alibaba Group’s Alibaba has a market share of 47.1% followed by Tenpay from Tencent with 20.4% market share. The other online service providers each has a market share of below 10%.

Also read::China’s Online Game Market to Reach $9.2 Billion in 2014

Chinese consumer confidence continues to strengthen, up four points in the latest survey and reaching highs not seen since 2007, according to the latest Chinese Consumer Confidence Report, which is jointly released by China Economic Monitoring & Analysis Centre (CEMAC) of the National Bureau of Statistics and The Nielsen Company.

With the economy improving and the government ‘s subsidies program , consumers with Low Incomes who used to have lower confidence in the economy are now closer to the National average- reaching 102 with an increase (+12 points) viruses last quarter.

Results from the China Consumer Confident Report suggest that consumers have continued to regain their optimism about their economic future; however their willingness to spend has not increased, in fact it has decreased across different regions and city tiers. 43 percent of Chinese consumers think now is a good time to spend, which is a decrease of three percent vs the prior quarter. Willingness to spend is higher among consumers in East and Tier 1 cities.

Nielsen

Also read::Consumer Confidence in China Back to Pre-Recession Levels

State Council Information Office Minister Wang Chen shared last week that as of now, the number of Chinese netizens has reached 404 million; Internet penetration rate reached 28.9%, exceeding the world average. And, mobile Internet users reached 233 million people.

Total number of broadband users reached 346 million.

Also read::China Internet Statistics 2009 Summary

This could be a surprise to some people; but this recent survey conducted by Boston Consulting Group put four Chinese companies on top innovative company list.

8. BYD
28. Haier Electronics
30. Lenovo
44. China Mobile

Apple reigns as No. 1 again, trailed by silver medalist Google. And Microsoft and IBM find themselves back in the top five, based on BCG’s global poll.

The 50 Most Innovative Companies 2010

Also read::China Online Advertising Summary in Q1 2010

As a consequence of China’s one-child policy, its population is aging at an accelerated pace. Two years from now, the share of the Chinese population younger than the age of 20 will fall below the same share in the US, and will continue to fall for the near future. Today, the median age for the U.S. is 36.6 and China is 34.2.

As the share of children falls, the share of older persons will rise. For China, population aging will hit much more quickly than even in parts of the more-developed world. In around 15 years, the median age in China will be older than in the US.

Nielsen advises that a mix of brands targeted to different demographic groups, or those that work well in India or other less-developed nations, may struggle in China. Large families with children, typically the biggest market segment available in the less-developed world, are nonexistent in China. Very few households have more than two children and those with one greatly outnumber those with two.

As the Chinese population ages, household sizes will continue to shrink and the share of households that have children will continue to fall. This means less variance in the buying rate for products that rely on use by multiple family members for volume. Gaining new users and the retention of current users will be far more important strategies than seeking to grow volume within existing users.

Lessons marketers learn in the more-developed world about targeting older consumers should pay dividends in China. By around 2038, there will be as many persons older than the age of 65 in China as there are younger than the age of 20. After 2038, older consumers will outnumber younger ones. Marketers who can tap these older generations could do very well.

Source: Marketing Charts

Also read::Understanding Chinese Mothers

Niko Partners, the leading market intelligence firm on China’s video game industry, last week announced preliminary results from its upcoming Annual Review & Five-Year Forecast on China’s video game industry, citing $3.57 billion in revenue from online games in 2009.

The annual review and forecast on online gaming and Chinese gamers shows strong growth by Chinese online
game operators, despite a harsh regulatory environment particularly for foreign games, and a gamer base that has become increasingly discerning about game quality.

Niko had forecasted 2009 revenue to reach $3.65 billion. For 2010, the firm predicts that the online game market will reach $4.5 billion and enjoy a healthy CAGR of 20.9% over the next five years with revenue reaching $9.2 billion in 2014.

Key insights about online games and Chinese gamers in the report include:

• Chinese gamers prefer the Free-to-Play (F2P) model of online games in which online operators generate revenue via the virtual economy, rather than the time-based model in which access is provided for a fixed number of pre-paid hours.
• 63% of gamers surveyed increased their spending on online games in the past year.
• Social Networking Sites (SNS) games have gained popularity among Chinese consumers, and 88% of the gamers Niko surveyed claim to play SNS games.
• The primary reasons gamers with PCs at home go to an Internet café are to be social with their friends and to participate in gaming competitions.
• At least 65% of gamers use Internet cafés at least part of the time.
• There were 68 million online gamers in China by our definition at the end of 2009 and by 2014; the number should reach 141 million, a 15.5% CAGR.

2010 Annual Review & Five-Year Forecast Report on China’s Video Game Industry (PDF)

Also read::Ad Spending in China will Reach $1.7 Billion in 2009

Go-getting. Dedicated. Easygoing. All Chinese mothers are not the same. In a China where women indeed hold up half the sky, there are an estimated 320 million working mothers. That’s more than the entire population of the United States.

Ogilvy shared some interesting findings about Chinese mothers; mothers in urban China follow different styles of parenting. These styles are determined by a mix of factors:

• their own career ambitions and workplace expectations,
• the kind of financial control and independence they enjoy,
• self-image in terms of role in the family,
• beliefs about how children much be raised, and
• ambitions for and expectations of their own child.

It also described three types of Chinese mothers:

• Go-getting mothers
• Easy-going mothers
• Dedicated mothers

Changing Chinese Mothers

Also read::Chinese Consumer Social Technographics Profile

Taobao DataCube Interface

Taobao announced today in Shanghai its plan to open up its massive raw data, “Taobao DataCube“. Personal and corporate data will be protected. Data are provided in two ways:

• Directly from Taobao DataCube
• From third party research organizations

The data from DataCube include:

• Industry size and trend
• Buyers’ characteristics such as demographics, geo-locations, and shopping behaviors
• Popular products and hot brands
• Top searched brands, products, and search-led conversions
• Online store statistics

Also read::Taobao Expands into Offline Retail Business

McKinsey recently published a survey on China’s Internet obsession; you may be surprised to see how much time Chinese consumers are spending online:

People in the 60 largest cities in China spend around 70 percent of their leisure time on the Internet, according to a survey we conducted in 2009. In smaller towns, the corresponding number is 50 percent. The PC is fast replacing the TV set as an entertainment hub, and emotions run high over who gets to log on and for how long.

Other interesting findings include:

• One in five consumers between the ages of 18 and 44 won’t purchase a product or service without first researching it on the Internet.
• Companies that create microsites or stage online events usually find that consumers in China respond enthusiastically by posting comments, pictures, and videos.
• Many companies track online conversations in China constantly.

Have you got enough budget for your target?

Also read::China’s Consumer Confidence Reaches Highest Level Since 2007

At 19:52:05 on March 5, the number of simultaneous online QQ users for the first time exceeded 100 million, which is also the world’s first online application having exceeded simultaneous 100 million users.

Tencent’s market capital is over USD 37 billion.

Also read::1/4 Internet Users in China Log in Tencent QQ at the same time

The following statistics are based on data released by CNNIC for 2009.

• China Internet users: 384 million, with a penetration rate of 28.9%
• Broadband Internet users: 346 million
• China mobile internet users: 233 million (60.8% of total internet users)
• Internet users in rural areas: 106.81 million
• Registered domain names: 16.82 million (80% are .cn domains)
• Top 3 Internet applications
  • online music
  • online news
  • search engines.
• Top 3 fast growing online applications
  • Online payment
  • Travel booking
  • Online stock trading
• Male Internet users v.s. Female: 54.2% v.s. 45.8%
• 10% of China internet users don’t have income; 30.3% have a monthly income of over 2000 yuan.
• An average, an China internet user spends 18.7 hours per week online.
• Total search engine users: 280 million, up 38.6% from previous year
• Total bloggers: 221 million
• Social networking sites users: 176 million
• Online shopping users: 108 million, up 45.9%

Also read::China Mobile Internet User Behavior Study 2009

According to the latest CR-Nielsen report, China online display advertising market reached 18 billion yuan in 2009, up 36.9% from 2008.

The top 5 online display advertising industries

1. automobiles: 16.1%
2. fashion: 14.8%
3. entertainment: 10.6%
4. computer and electronic products: 10.3%
5. FMCG: 8.4%.

Top 5 Online Display Advertisers

Top 5 Advertisers with the highest online advertising spend:

• Jiayuan.com (online dating): 520 million yuan
• VANCL (online apparel): 510 million yuan
• Lining: 370 million yuan
• Nike: 290 million yuan
• 51job.com: 260 million yuan

Source: CR-Nielsen.com

Also read::China Feb 09 Online Advertising Report

It’s critical for companies to profile targeted audience and determine what kind of relationship you want to build with them, based on what they are ready for.

Forrester’s Social Technographics classifies consumers into six overlapping levels of participation:

six overlapping levels of participation

Here is the handy (and free) consumer profile tool you can try to get some idea.

Metra China Consumer Profile

• Bars indicate the percentage of the selected demographic that are in each Social Technographics group.
• The white marks indicate the same percentages for the whole population of the country selected.
• The index indicates how the demographic compares to the population — a score of 100 means the demographic is the same as the population average.

Their survey samples are not large enough to provide data by age for Chinese market. Hopefully, it’ll be improved this year.

Consumer Profile Tool

Also read::Netpop: Chinese Social Media Use Surpasses US

Synovate asked in a survey about the importance people attached to their mobile or cell phone. An incredible 70% of Chinese respondents said they ‘can’t live without it‘ and this figure was also high in Hong Kong (59%) and Taiwan (54%).

The same survey revealed that some people can’t live without newspaper or magazines. A third of all the people surveyed said they could not live without newspapers and 16% said they could not live without magazines.

Radio is considered less important in Taiwan (51% can easily live without it), China (40%) and Hong Kong (37%).

Taiwan (53%) and especially Hong Kong (38%) feel the number of TV ads is much less of a problem.

Attitudes to advertising levels on mobile / cell phones vary a lot by market with around half of respondents in Hong Kong and Taiwan saying there are too many and 44% agreeing in China.

More than half in China would be willing to accept more internet advertising if they received a discount on their internet package. 42% are willing to accept more ads on mobile phones for a cheaper bill.

Some of the biggest increases in online brand engagement behavior over the past year can be found across Asia, especially in China where 53% have searched for an ad online, 40% have shared links to ads and 35% have promoted a brand via social networking.

Source: Synovate

Also read::Chinese Spend on Average 4.47 Mins per Day Reading on Mobile

1. Shanghai
2. Beijing
3. Tianjin
4. Guangzhou
5. Hangzhou
6. Chengdu
7. Nanjing
8. Fuzhou
9. Changsha
10. Ji’nan

The cities were evaluated on what China.org.cn calls “a comprehensive assessment basis,” that took into account the size of the economy in each city, the number of employees, fixed assets investment, gross output of industrial enterprises, per capita GDP, population urbanization, added value of the first, second and third industries, disposable income of the urban population, eco-environment, location and infrastructure, endowment insurance engagement, new job opportunities, dwelling space per capita and the amount of scientific research taking place.

Source: China.org.cn [via Marketing Charts]

Also read::China Search Engine Market Report 2009

Clay Chandler, an editor with McKinsey’s publishing group, interviewed Emmanuel Hemmerle, a principal with executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles, in Tokyo in October 2009.

In the video below, Hemmerle challenges many of the classic assumptions about talent management in China and shares his insights on finding expert local talent, setting compensation levels, and understanding the evolving credentials and desires of Chinese executives, which applies to digital media as well.

Also read::Digital Advertising Campaigns in China Reached US$223.9 Million in July 2009 [CR-Nielsen]