Although China retail’s growth rate has fallen from a peak of 15.6% in 2009 and is slowing, China remains irresistible to global retail chains. China is expected to have average annual retail volume growth of 8.7% in 2015 & 2016. By 2018, it will be the world’s biggest retail market in the world.
The total retail sales of China consumer goods reached 2,580.1 billion yuan ($414 billion), up by 11.9% year-on-year according to National Bureau of Statistics of China in 2014. Further, online shopping value accounted for 10.7% of total retail value in China.
Besides, in the first two months of 2015, China online retail sales of goods was 399.1 billion yuan, increased 47.4%, accounting for 8.3 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods. Such great success in China’s retail market is partly due to its rapid development in e-commerce market nowadays. See e-commerce market performance in 2014 here.
China is becoming increasingly acquisitive in the food and drinks sectors. In the first half of 2014, food and drink deals accounted for 17% of total Chinese outbound M&A activity.
Asia Retail Sales Volume Growth (%)
| Asia Retail Sales Volume Growth (%) | ||||||||
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
| Austrailia | -0.5% | 0.9% | 1.5% | 1.3% | 2.6% | 2.3% | 2.0% | 2.2% |
| China | 9.1% | 8.7% | 9.3% | 8.8% | 8.7% | 8.6% | 8.0% | 7.9% |
| Hong Kong | 18.6% | 5.5% | 6.6% | 3.1% | 2.0% | -1.0% | 0.4% | 1.3% |
| India | 5.7% | 2.7% | 1.7% | 4.0% | 5.6% | 6.2% | 6.2% | 6.6% |
| Indonesia | 6.0% | 5.3% | 4.3% | 3.8% | 5.1% | 5.4% | 5.0% | 5.0% |
| Japan | 0.1% | 1.5% | 0.7% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.8% |
| Malaysia | 4.6% | 4.7% | 6.4% | 5.4% | 5.3% | 4.6% | 4.6% | 4.8% |
| New Zealand | -1.9% | 2.4% | 6.3% | 3.2% | 2.9% | 2.2% | 2.7% | 2.5% |
| Pakistan | 9.2% | -0.8% | 5.1% | 3.9% | 4.1% | 3.8% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Philippines | 3.2% | 5.4% | 4.4% | 4.2% | 5.3% | 5.4% | 5.4% | 5.5% |
| Singapore | 1.9% | 0.6% | 1.2% | 1.7% | 2.5% | 2.9% | 2.4% | 2.9% |
| South Korea | 2.1% | 1.3% | -0.1% | 1.6% | 2.9% | 3.1% | 2.8% | 2.9% |
| Taiwan | 3.6% | 0.6% | 2.5% | 2.9% | 2.5% | 2.4% | 2.7% | 2.3% |
| Thailand | 1.4% | 4.9% | -2.4% | 0.6% | 0.7% | 3.6% | 3.4% | 4.3% |
| Vietnam | 6.7% | 3.9% | 3.8% | 9.5% | 8.4% | 7.6% | 6.0% | 6.5% |
Also read: China Online Retail Market Grows 3 Times Faster Than Retail Market
