London: The influence of Chinese tourists
and consumers will be so great that in the next few years it
will become normal for leading shops in the UK and US to stock
and accept Chinese currency, an academic has predicted in a
new book.
Karl Gerth of Oxford University`s Faculty of History
has studied the growing worldwide influence of the Chinese
consumers in difficult economic times, and has predicted that
more major UK and US brands will soon come under Chinese
ownership.
Gerth is the author of `As China Goes, So Goes the
World: How Chinese Consumers Are Transforming Everything`,
which is based on five years of research and the author`s
experience of China since his first visit as a student in
1986, a university release said.
Gerth said: "Already shops on Bond Street are
accepting renminbi from Chinese tourists and in years to come
the tastes and desires of Chinese consumers will have to be at
the forefront of every successful shop owner`s commercial
considerations."
He added: "Many Chinese want Western experiences and
lifestyles, and these desires are fuelled by intensive
advertising.
"During my travels in rural China, I asked an
innkeeper near the Tibetan border if he`d ever heard of KFC -
he pointed to his television and told me that not only is he
familiar with all these American brands, but he successfully
convinced his daughter to leave home and move a six-hour bus
ride away, simply by promising her she`d finally get to go to
a KFC."
According to the academic, with China`s huge
population and spending power, it was no surprise that big
firms were bending over backwards to meet the demands of the
Chinese consumer.
This process works both ways, Gerth said, and China`s
acquisition of Western firms has established them as the
world?s next branding superpower.
"China doesn`t simply want to buy Western goods
Chinese want to create internationally competitive brands of
their own, and if they can`t spread brands which originated in
China around the world, the natural alternative is to seek to
take over brands which are already established," Gerth said.
He added: "China is the world`s next branding
superpower ? recent takeovers of MG Rover and Volvo by Chinese
companies are just the tip of the iceberg, some of the most
established brands in the world will come under Chinese
ownership in years to come, and it will be interesting to see
what impact this has on the brands." A recent study found that the Chinese made 3.67
million passenger trips to Europe last year, an increase of
15.8 per cent on the 3.17 million in 2009.
Chinese package tours to Britain are expected to
include luxury shopping, the release said.
Gerth said, "The exact number of British companies
being taken over by Chinese firms is unknown, but whatever the
number, it will be a lot higher in the next few years."
"Remember: the global community has been demanding the
Chinese appreciate their currency for the last few years by up
to 20 per cent. Suddenly British assets will be up to 20 per
cent cheaper.
"If you were shocked when MG Rover became a Chinese
company, just wait a few years," he added.
PTI
