Wu Guangqiang

    jw368@163.com

    “BAKUGAI,” a Japanese word meaning “explosive buying,” was named the Japanese Word of the Year of 2015.

    The frequent appearance of the top winning phrase “Bakugai” on Japanese media reflected Japanese people’s jaw-dropping reaction to shopping sprees by Chinese tourists in Japan. Over the past few years, busloads of Chinese travelers have descended on duty-free stores in Tokyo, purchasing cosmetics, health food, rice cookers and high-tech toilet seats.

    According to Japan Tourism Agency data, 4.993 million Chinese tourists visited Japan in 2015, spending 1.4 trillion yen (US$12.8 billion, or 83.45 billion yuan). On average, every Chinese tourist spent 280,000 yen, 1.6 times the per capita consumption of American tourists in Japan and 2.8 times the per capita overseas consumption of Japanese tourists.

    Chinese shoppers also swept through shopping centers in other countries, including South Korea, France, Italy, the U.K. and Switzerland, snapping up watches, designer bags and clothes, chocolate and even milk powder.

    It’s estimated that during the most recent Spring Festival holiday, over 6 million Chinese traveled overseas and spent about US$7.2 billion. In the past two years, Chinese shoppers, who are now seen as “walking wallets,” bought 46 percent of luxury goods worldwide.

    What is luring Chinese shoppers away from their home country, the largest consumer goods maker in the world, to foreign countries to spend their money? Strong exchange rates, greater varieties of goods at reasonable prices, and, most importantly, better quality goods are all reasons why people are spending their money in other countries.

    When it comes to brand items, shoppers can save significant money by buying overseas. Swiss watches are at least 30 to 80 percent cheaper in Switzerland than in China. Clothes, cosmetics and bags can be up to 30 percent cheaper overseas than in China.

    While I was in Japan and some European countries, what impressed me most was the diversity of goods that stimulated the desire to buy. Japanese ceramic knives and scissors, for instance, are extremely popular with Chinese tourists.

    Above all, Japanese and European products enjoy a good reputation of reliable quality, leaving Chinese consumers with little worry about counterfeit or defective products.

    The whopping sum of 1.2 trillion yuan (US$183 billion) spent overseas by Chinese tourists in 2015 revealed Chinese consumers’ enormous appetite for quality goods and services. In order to satisfy such a huge consumer appetite and draw shoppers back to the domestic market, China must upgrade its economic structure.

    Many factors are responsible for China’s high prices: high tariffs, heavy logistics costs, overlapping intermediate links in circulation and soaring rents for retailers, to name a few.

    The Chinese Government has begun taking steps to spur domestic consumption. Last July, tariffs were lowered on some consumer goods on a trial basis and more items will enjoy lower tariffs soon.

    More duty-free stores have been opened or will open across the country so shoppers will not have to leave China to buy the things they want.

    More measures have been taken to facilitate customs clearance and tax returns. E-commerce businesses are encouraged to import quality foreign products with fewer restrictions, simpler procedures and fewer charges.

    Most importantly, however, is that Chinese producers and retailers need to make and sell their own products that will win Chinese consumers’ hearts. That is the aim of the ongoing “supply-end reform,” to shift resources from industries with heavy investment, high energy consumption and severe pollution such as steel and coal mining to readily marketable products.

    The task is not so easy as it appears, as the manufacturing of small items with good quality requires the long-term commitment of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which, in turn, calls for a favorable business environment. Chinese SMEs are experiencing some difficulties, though.

    Satisfying citizens’ demands is the embodiment of a nation’s comprehensive strength.

    (The author is an English tutor and freelance writer.)