Jacques Chirac, center-right socialist politician, served as the president of France for 12 years from 1995 to 2007. He was best known globally for taking France into the Eurozone and his opposition to the Iraq war during his political career. However, his reputation experienced a little bit of damage when he was convicted for embezzlement and misuse of public funds in 2011. Despite Jacques Chirac’s political events, his close ties with China should be noted.

The death of former French President Jacques Chirac: One of the most discussed topics on Chinese social media

The death of former French President Jacques Chirac was one of the most talked-about topics on Chinese social media on Sep 26^th and Sep 27^th, generating hundreds of thousands of news, comments and pictures on social media.

According to the SEO tool Baidu Index, searches for the keyword“希拉克” (Chirac)  spiked on Baidu for the period from Sep 26^th to Sep 30^th, and a peak was reached on Sep 27^th.

Looking at WeChat Index, we can also see a peak in searches on each Sept 26^th and Sep 27^th.

For both Baidu Index and WeChat Index, “Chirac” was the most searched keyword out of a list of keywords: “Former French President Jacques Chirac passed away”; “Jacques Chirac”; and “Chirac”. Although this may be an indication that Chinese Netizens are not familiar with him, they did demonstrate interest in this news and the French President himself.

Two hashtags – #Former French President Chirac passed away and #Chirac generated discussion on Weibo. Referring to Weibo Index, the former reached a highest total readership of 1.7 billion at Sep 30^th. The topic was ranked amongst ‘hottest topics’ on Weibo trends on Sep 26^th, where over 87 million reads were reached.

Chinese netizens’ perception of Jacques Chirac and view towards his death

There is no doubt that Chinese netizens want to learn more about the former French President Jacques Chirac, which is not only shown from the fact that they are constantly searching up on Chirac, but also from the articles posted by KOLs or official news authorities. Apart from announcing the news that Jacques Chirac had passed away, most of these articles included a brief life story about him and the ties that he holds with China.

Chinese netizens’ perception of Jacques Chirac was very positive in general. Netizens agreed with many KOLs or news authorities that portrayed him as a ‘Good old friend’ of China. From the comments section of related Weibo posts, it can be seen that many Chinese remembered him as been an exceptional and wise leader who loved Chinese culture and for his contribution towards China-France relation. Despite that many accounts like China Daily also highlighted his notions against war, most positive comments still focused on his view regarding China instead of his other political event. There are a few negative comments that mentioned about his embezzlement conviction, but most netizens either overlooked or did not know about this issue.  

Perception of Jacques Chirac in China: seen as a real Chinese Culture Fan

As seen from the Weibo and Wechat posts, Jacques Chirac was clearly recognized by Chinese Netizens as a political leader who had shown deep interest and love towards China and Chinese culture. A Zhihu article suggested that Chirac demonstrated his extensive knowledge of China through exploring Ancient Chinese bronze, Chinese poetry, dynastic order and many more. As a communist country, Chinese people share a strong sense of patriotism. They especially welcome and embrace those who share similar feelings about their culture and their country, which is the case for Jacques Chirac.

 ‘Golden 10 years’ of China-France relation

Chirac visited China four times during the 12 years of his presidency and was the first Western leader who visited the Terracotta Warriors. His affection for Chinese culture and frequent visits to China became the fundamental of the ‘Golden 10 years’ of China-France relation. As many Chinese Netizens remembered, the relation between the two countries was strongest when he was in position. The establishment of “global partnership” and “global strategic partnership” were all organized by the former French President Jacques Chirac with China. Let alone the political reasons, Chirac’s appreciation of China is definitely one of the major reasons behind this friendly relationship. Citing on one of the Zhihu comments below, this netizen applauses Chirac for having been a politician who understands the importance of a strategic plan for a country, rather than a politician who cares nothing but poll results.

Chinese Netizens’ current view on China-France relation

Chinese Netizens’ current view on China-France relation is, to an extent largely dependent upon their perception and expectation of the current president  Emmanuel Macron. The proposed collaboration with China’s Belt and Road Initiative by Macron on his visit to Xian on Jan 8^th,2018, is expected to bring a “new spring” of China-France relation. Furthermore, the video of Macron’s attempt to speak the Chinese phrase “make the Earth greater again”(“让地球再次伟大”) went viral on Chinese Social Media may imply to the Chinese that he embraces the Chinese culture and is ready to explore deeper. The current vision of Netizens is fairly positive in general and is sought to continue in the near future with the collaboration of both countries.

Overall, China-France relation has always been quite stable throughout the years, especially due to contributions of the former French President Jacques Chirac. Chinese people are yet to wait and see what the current French president Emmanuel Macron will do to manage and maintain the relationship between China and France.

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The president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced the US would blacklist Huawei by putting it on the “Entity List” and “Export Blacklist” issued by U.S. Department of Commerce, which forced several U.S. companies, including Google and Qualcomm, to suspend the business cooperation with Huawei. This announcement is similar to what Trump did last year when he sanctioned ZTE, one of Huawei’s counterparts in China. Also, Trump also announces that several Chinese sci-tech companies, such as DJI and Hikvision, will also be on the lists. This incident arouses the debates among Chinese netizens and Chinese news media, discussing whether Huawei can survive. Huawei’s cell phones are manufactured based on the Android system that belongs to Google and with chips produced by Qualcomm. Besides, Huawei develops its own chips by leveraging the chip structures provided by ARM. Debates are buzzing on the internet focus on whether Huawei and other promising Chinese sci-tech companies are ready for further possible sanctions from Trump.

Buzz among Chinese netizens around the “Huawei ban” issue

Blacklisting Huawei: Search Index

As a renowned China’s telecom company, Huawei always attracts eyes from many Chinese netizens, especially after the incident called “Huawei Ban” in which Trump announced to blacklist Huawei, while Google, Qualcomm, and ARM declared to stop business cooperation with Huawei.

Concerning the data of Baidu Index, it shows that China’s telecom brand related searching rose dramatically in the last 30 days stright after the Huawei issue, and the ascending trend started right after Trump announcing raising the tariffs to China and later announcing to blacklist Huawei.

What do Chinese netizens say about Huawei issue in Weibo?

On Weibo, the Chinese twitter, there are also many topics relevant to Huawei’s sanction by Trump and the pause of cooperation with U.S. companies, and all the topics have above 10 thousand discussions and several hundred million views. The Huawei issue related to Huawei’s Hongmeng operating system and the letter of Huawei Hisilicon’s CEO are most viewed by Chinese netizens. Views’ number of a topic relevant to ARM rises tremendously to more than a hundred million in half a month.  It seems that Chinese netizens are worried about the largest of China’s telecom company’s reaction to the situation.

Many Chinese netizens think that 5G technology is the most important reason why Trump and the U.S. government ban Huawei; because once Huawei technology has the lead on the global 5G network, the U.S. government may lose the chance to monitor the world. US companies currently occupy almost 90% of the 4G market; these measures can also be a way not to miss the chance to get great benefits from the 5G industry.  

WeChat users’ reaction to sanctions against Huawei

Data from WeChat Index, which is derived from the communication and information-sharing software WeChat in China, shows the search frequency of the Huawei brand increased after a search for words such as “the US” and “Trump.” Can be assumed that Chinese netizens didn’t interest into Trump’s sanction to Huawei until specific actions made by Google, ARM, Qualcomm, who announced to pause the business cooperation with Huawei, which may jeopardize Huawei’s business.

One of the KOLs on WeChat, which is a social communication media in China, thinks that the true reason of the Huawei issue is the U.S. wants to target on China in case China takes the leading position of the U.S. in economy and technology, which is deemed as a big threat to the U.S. government to maintain its economic benefits, and as Huawei is the representative of Chinese technology, the U.S. can hinder Chinese technological development by sanctioning Huawei. Some netizens who follow the KOL also believe this is a war between two countries, so the Chinese government should interfere more with the conflicts between Huawei and the U.S. government, and Chinese people should stay together to support the country and Huawei.

A Chinese question-answer forum: Shows us what Chinese netizens think of the Huawei issue

Plenty of Chinese netizens are discussing Huawei 5G technology because Huawei has already been one of the most advanced companies in the 5G industry, and Huawei 5G has already been the hot topic on Chinese question-answer forum Zhihu as showed above. But Huawei operating system and Huawei Hisilicon are also buzzing on the forum, and questions or topics about Huawei OS and Huawei Hisilicon are put forward by Chinese netizens.

On Zhihu, there are several thousand netizens following the discussions about Huawei’s possible solutions to its difficulties, including the expectation of Huawei operating system and Huawei Hisilicon.

The answers are both optimistic and pessimistic: although it is easily expected that there are netizens optimistic about Huawei OS and Huawei’s Hongmeng OS can help Huawei overcome the Huawei ban issue because they believe Huawei has capital and technologies to support its research, there are also a number of netizens pointing out that there are limits of Hongmeng operating system and Huawei Hisilicon, but this is also the Sputnik moment for Huawei to get rid of its dependence on the U.S. technical support.

Huawei through the eyes of Chinese consumers: A contradiction in opinions

There are also comments that are suspicious about Huawei on the net. They have ideas that if Huawei wants to gain the support from Chinese citizens, then it needs to decrease the price of its products inside China; some Chinese netizens also point out that Huawei cannot continue its production alone.

Some netizens also criticize Huawei for leveraging patriotism for sales tactics. Since the incident, some netizens expressed Huawei just wants to use pity for marketing purposes.

Overall, Chinese netizens focus more on the point that the U.S. wants to hinder China, and therefore, it can gain leadership in the 5G industry, and Huawei 5G is the cause. There are both supporters and objectors of Huawei among Chinese netizens, and the main controversy is not whether Huawei can overcome the difficulty but whether it is patriotic to buy Huawei products.

Huawei 5G technology: What is the reason for Trump’s ban on Huawei?

Huawei 5G technology was developed as early as in 2009, according to the information released on its website. In 2017 and 2018, Huawei spent U.S$1.4 billion R&D expenditure on Huawei 5G technology. Huawei 5G technology is characterized by “simplified architecture” with simplified base stations to relay the signals and information in the form of the microwave. Currently, Huawei has been one of the most promising leaders in 5G technology, and Huawei has already tested its 5G technology successfully on broadcasting and telecommunication in several countries including Japan, Germany, and the UK.

Huawei’s main competitor in 5G technology is Qualcomm. In the Chinese Internet users’ eyes, this is the most likely reason behind the Huawei ban.  

The future of Huawei: What is the forecast

The data of Huawei Vmall that obtained from SimilarWeb shows that the traffic of Huawei online sales platform had experienced a downfall since Nov. 2018, even within the period of Huawei’s P30 mobile release.

However, Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei is quite confident about the future of Huawei. Ren joined the interview held by a Chinese journalist and said that Huawei would win the battle with the U.S. government. He reckoned this is Huawei’s Sputnik moment and Huawei would overcome. “I never thought we, Huawei, would die.” Said Ren. “We think we should analyze the problems we have: which problem we can neglect, which problem we should focus on. Then we will achieve victory. The U.S. has no way to do with some high-tech products because we entirely count on ourselves.”

Huawei’s saviors: Huawei operating system and Huawei Hisilicon

Ren’s confidence about Huawei is obvious for Chinese netizens, as they launched several discussions on social media platforms about the solutions to the difficulties that Huawei encounters. Most people thought that the Hongmeng operating system, which is developed by Huawei itself, and the Kirin chip in China that is invented and manufactured by Huawei Hisilicon (which is Huawei’s subsidiary) can help Huawei to get rid of the impact of being banned by the U.S. In addition, since Huawei is a China’s telecom company, mobile business is just a part of it; and Huawei can give up the mobile business and continue to survive without it. A phrase called “extreme survival” is used to illustrate the current status of Huawei, and this phrase is also often associated with the Huawei’s issue in the Chinese internet.

Can Huawei survive from “Huawei ban” by developing Hongmeng OS and Huawei Hisilicon?

Currently, all of Huawei’s mobiles are equipped with an Android system provided by Google. Besides, Qualcomm and ARM are the chip supporters of Huawei: Qualcomm provides chips to Huawei for its most mobile products, and ARM provides the architectures for Huawei to design and manufacture its Kirin chip in China. But now Google, Qualcomm, ARM have already stopped cooperation with Huawei, which is a tremendous threat to Huawei technology. Although the Android system is open source, Huawei’s mobiles will not receive the following support and update services on the Android system from Google. In addition, Huawei cannot purchase chips from Qualcomm or design its chips by using the new structures from ARM.

However, Huawei still has opportunities to overcome. Huawei just announced that it had developed a Hongmeng operating system as the alternative of the Android system on condition that Google will not provide the Android system. Also, ARM has authorized Huawei to use its existed architectures permanently without being affected by the U.S. government’s regulation, so Huawei Hisilicon can further develop Kirin chip in China.

Huawei mobile business also accounts for only part of its business. According to Sohu, the mobile business takes up to 48.4% of all Huawei business, while there are more than 50% coming from other parts of Huawei Business. For example, operator services account for about 40% of Huawei business, and this may increase as Huawei 5G is expected to help Huawei obtain more market share in the sector of operator services. At present, Huawei 5G’s main competitor is Qualcomm 5G, which was tested last year and received unpleasant feedbacks.

The future of Huawei is promising. Nevertheless, either Hongmeng operating system and Kirin chip in China cost certain time to improve until they are fully qualified for the market that Huawei has. Although Ren said that Huawei operating system and Huawei Hisilicon have developed much enough to go to the market, time will tell whether the new Huawei technology is qualified in the market.

Author: Dennis Deng

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This year’s Easter was on April 21st, 2019, and while it is not traditionally a holiday celebrated in China, it seems that Chinese netizens have taken an interest in the holiday as well. Easter is a Christian holiday, making it mostly celebrated in the Americas and Europe. The date is determined by the Sunday after the Spring Equinox and always falls between March 22 to April 25.

This Easter searches for “Easter” or “复活节” fuhuojie skyrocketed on various Chinese platforms, such as Baidu and WeChat. Official Chinese news site Xinhuanet published articles regarding festivals and celebrations of Easter in the United States, while Weibo, the Chinese counterpart for twitter seemed to also have taken an interest in events that have occurred in the West surrounding this holiday. Generally, while Chinese netizens have taken interest in Easter, they are unsure as to what the holiday really is, this expressing curiosity and a desire to be more educated on the topic. Daxue Consulting conducted an analysis of the Chinese media-scape of this Easter discussion.

Easter: A high search interest amongst Chinese platforms

Our analysis using Baidu Index showed that searches for the keyword “Easter” among Chinese netizens reached over 89 thousand searches on the day of Easter, April 21st. The previous week also demonstrated a high search interest, reaching over 76 thousand searches. On average, the search for “Easter” on Easter weekend increased 16-fold from the previous month of March, from an average of 5 thousand searches in March to 80 thousand on Easter weekend. We also see that interest has increased since last Easter, with 7 thousand more Baidu searches this year than last the previous.

On WeChat, the most widely used social media app in China, the search index result was much higher, reaching 31 million searches on the day of Easter. The search for written content on WeChat regarding Easter was mainly educational and informative. Headlines include, “Where did Easter Holiday Come from? (The process of Jesus’s Resurrection)”, “Easter, a Holiday filled with Colorful Eggs,” “The Life of Easter, Death, and Resurrection.” These articles mainly describe the origins of the holiday, how people should celebrate it, and what are some common rituals surrounding the holiday, such as Easter egg hunting.  

Chinese Netizens want to understand more about Easter

Not only are the Chinese searching about Easter, Results from Zhihu, show overwhelmingly that the Chinese are unsure as to what the Western holiday is, and wish to learn more about its origins. In addition to the questions, The answers and articles are often quite detailed, offering insightful and detailed explanations for the history and religious context. For instance, one article on the question-and-answer site specifically targets Chinese students studying abroad. It offers the students a background of Easter holiday, explaining that “it is considered by Christians to a symbol of life and hope.” One article on the question-and-answer site even shows instructions on how to make colorful bunnies out of paper art.  

Colorful eggs and bunnies … what do they mean?

Chinese netizens are particularly interested in the stories behind the colorful eggs and associated with Easter. The exact date and vacation days of Easter are the most popular related searches in the Baidu Word Index. However, the next most common searches related to Easter are those relating to “Easter eggs” or “Colorful eggs.” “彩蛋” caidan is the Chinese term for “Easter egg,” which literally translates to color “彩” and egg “蛋”. Chinese livestreaming site Douyu is was also a popular keyword associated with Easter, which could have a number of implications such as: Chinese netizens searching livestreams of Easter festival/celebrations from other countries, or popular Chinese live streamers celebrating the holiday. While it seems that more searches for Easter eggs occurred this year, there are many questions on Zhihu asking about both eggs and bunnies, and many articles answering the questions on that context.

Weibo: The Viral Violent Easter bunny

A video of a violent Easter bunny beating up a man in the streets became very popular on Weibo. The incident took place in the state of Florida in the United States, and the video was posted on multiple Weibo accounts. The man dressed as the Easter Bunny, named Antonie McDonald, saw a fight occur between a man and women when he came out of a bar in Orlando, Florida. He then claimed to “intervene” or “break up” the fight and proceeded to beat the man that was involved in the fight he saw.  The most widely seen video was the one posted to the official news Weibo account “头条新闻” or “Headline News.” As of April 26, the post has received 2350 likes, 598 comments, and 791 shares. There were a number of Weibo hashtags for posts related to this incident, including #Easterbunny, #bunnybeatupviolentman, #Easterbunnyfleeingfromfamine.

International Easter coverage on official Chinese news media

A search for “Easter” among Chinese netizens on the most popular official state media site, Xinhuanet, reveals 55new posted articles in 2019 related to the holiday. Coverage of Easter posts varies, from educational articles of how to celebrate Easter to also a number of international press coverage of Easter festivities from other countries. This year, Xinhuanet reported on events such as the New York Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival, the Sydney Royal Easter Show, and the 2019 White House Easter Egg Roll. With a number of posts on the White House Easter Egg Roll, it seems that the news site was especially interested in the White House Easter Roll. The posts were a main consisted of a photo reel of the event, most notably, Trump standing at the White House in the presence of an Easter Bunny.

The overall trend of interest towards Easter in Chinese Media

In general, Chinese citizens are unsure of what exactly is the meaning of Easter, and what the festivities are surrounding this Western holiday. However, our analysis demonstrates a high search for “easter” among Chinese netizens, as well as a desire to understand the religious origins, its history, and its rituals. Recent events during the holiday, such as the viral video of the violent Easter bunny and the White House Easter Egg Roll seemed to have garnered a lot of attention in Chinese media, thus increasing conversation of Easter among Chinese media this year. Overall, while a desire to understand the holiday, Easter eggs, and Easter bunnies seem to be experiencing an upward trend, general awareness of Easter among the Chinese public is still low. This is largely due to its Western religious origins, as China was not a traditionally religious country, nor does it have a large Christian population today.

Author: Julia Qi

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Given that Paris is one of the favourite destinations of Chinese tourists and that visiting the Notre Dame Cathedral is among the top three favourite activities of Chinese tourists in France, it is understandable that the Notre Dame’s fire shocked Chinese Internet users. Daxue Consulting conducted a study to understand how Chinese media and Chinese netizens reacted to this tragic event.

The most discussed topic on Chinese social networks

Notre Dame de Paris’ incident quickly became the most talked about topic on Chinese social networks, reaching more than 830 million views and hundreds of thousands of comments and pictures posted in a matter of hours.

On April 16, the first morning after the fire of Notre Dame for the Chinese people, the number of searches on the keyword “Notre Dame de Paris fire” increased to over 1,800,000 on Baidu, according to the Chinese SEO tool Baidu Index.

A majority of Chinese people are saddened by the scale of the Notre Dame de Paris’ disaster

This Monday, million of Chinese expressed their shock at the fire and posted their own pictures of Notre Dame with the hashtag “Notre Dame de Paris and me” #NotreDamedeParisandme. The hashtag had been viewed more than 120 million times, and around 20,000 comments expressing sorrow were posted.

On Weibo, the Chinese social media with more than 340 million users, Chinese netizens have also expressed their grief and dismay about the Notre Dame tragedy. Most of them evoke cultural reasons: more than 800 years of history, an architectural treasure, works of literature and cinema, etc. 

Many Chinese Internet users then referred to the novel by the French writer Victor Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Notre Dame de Paris in French). The novel, well known and loved in China, is even considered “a must-read masterpiece for middle school students.” The characters of Quasimodo and Esmeralda have given the Chinese people a better understanding of French culture at a time when many films and operas have been made based on the story in China.

On Chinese e-commerce platforms, there is even a craze for works related to Notre Dame Cathedral. For example, on three different versions of Victor Hugo’s novel, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, translated into Chinese on Tmall/Taobao shops we can see that in one night, the number of sales exploded from a few dozen the day before the fire to almost 2000 sales in just a few hours (see chart below).

For this younger generation, which has often traveled overseas, the loss of such a monument ”is not only the loss of France but also the humanity” as KOL Yingguo Baojie wrote a few hours after the incident, with more than 30,000 interactions:

A minority of Chinese Internet users remain doubtful about the sense of urgency in Paris

Questioning the effectiveness of emergency measures and origin of the Notre Dame fire

Since the cause of the Notre Dame fire was accidental and stemmed from work that had been undertaken by France, some Chinese Internet users concluded on Wechat, the Chinese giant which amounted 1.0825 billion monthly active users last year, that this was maybe a lack of professionalism and rigor from France.

Some Chinese netizens are so disappointed to see the Notre Dame cathedral destroyed that they question the preventive measures put in place by the French government around the Notre Dame and the responsiveness of the Parisian fire brigade. According to some Chinese tourists on the scene, it took time for the firefighters to respond and deploy their full power:

Notre Dame fire is being compared to the burning of Yuanming garden in 1860

A series of comments comparing the fire in Notre Dame to the one in Beijing’s Old Summer Palace were posted on Chinese social networks these recent days.

Yuanming Garden (圆明园), also known as the Old Summer Palace, is a historic site in Beijing which was known for its extensive collection of gardens, building architecture and numerous art and historical treasures. However, in 1860, during the second opium war, it was extensively looted and destroyed by English and French troops. English troops continued burning the gardens for three days until the complete destruction of the palace. Many exquisite artworks were stolen at the time, including porcelain, jade, silk, gold… 

This painful part of China’s history was, therefore, at the center of online discussions after the incident happened in Paris. On Zhihu, a Chinese question-and-answer social network, the top question was ‘‘How do you view the Paris Notre Dame fire’s aftermath? Many netizens are comparing it to Yuanming Garden’’. And here’s one of the top answers:

Some netizens explain that they can understand the pain felt by the French, but that the Beijing incident was much more serious. In this debate, a minority of Chinese users even went so far as to say they will never give money to rebuild the Notre Dame cathedral, as France plans to ask, but they would prefer to ask French people to give money to rebuild Yuanming Garden.

On Baidu, we also find that the peak of searches on the keyword ‘Notre Dame de Paris’ and on ‘Yuan Ming Garden’ match, showing the interest of the Chinese in this debate.

According to some of them, what happened in France is a matter of karma. This means that it is because of the intentions of the French troops who looted and burned Yuan Ming garden in 1860 that the cathedral is now burning. These rather extreme remarks rejoicing in Notre Dame’s fate have fuelled an endless debate on Chinese social networks.

Despite everything, a large majority of the Chinese netizens are indignant about this debate and feel a great deal of sympathy for the French, knowing how emblematic the cathedral is. 

How do Chinese media report on the Notre Dame de Paris’ fire?

Highlighting the strong China-France friendship

If we look at several articles in China’s national media, one element stands out: the long-standing relationship between France and China.

‘’Given our country’s longstanding commitment to the preservation of world cultural heritage, given our countrymen’s special enthusiasm for French culture, as well as the historical China-France friendship, it would be great if we could see Chinese participation in the upcoming restoration projects.’’

China Daily Global edition, ‘’Grief over Notre Dame shows cultural heritage global treasures’’, 04.1

All the media also took up the Chinese President’s announcement expressing his condolences to the French, showing the proximity between the two peoples.

Growing awareness: the Notre Dame’s fire as a warning for China’s heritage

The destruction of an architectural treasure has also made the Chinese realize how important it is to preserve their heritage. The Chinese newspaper People’s Daily, therefore, published an article on the fire prevention measures applied to the Forbidden City. The aim was to make sure that they are effective, especially since this ancient architecture is mainly built of wood.

‘‘Fire protection measures for the Forbidden City’’ was on top search on Monday.

Many Chinese media have thus relaunched the debate on the protection of Chinese architecture, reminding everyone how fragile history is.

Hou Weidong, a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage told the online Chinese media Shine that “Exchange of ideas, technology, and experience on protecting cultural relics between countries and regions should be strengthened to further protect the cultural heritage of all humankind”.

Although opinions differ somewhat on Chinese social networks, the dramatic incident that took place at Notre Dame de Paris is a reminder of how much the Chinese are attached to French and European culture. Many of them even said they were willing to give money to rebuild part of the cathedral within the next five years.

Author: Steffi Noël

Monitoring social media trends is an excellent way to understand Chinese consumers and to gain strategic insights. If you want to learn more about the Chinese social media landscape or to run a survey in China, please contact our team directly at dx@daxueconsulting.com.

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[Open innovation strategy in China – Source: Daxue Consulting]

In order to implement an effective open innovation strategy in China, companies must balance value created internally through innovation with the value captured through the commercialization of external sources/assets of knowledge.

Open innovation in China: Initiatives for Chinese economic development

In an effort to open endless frontiers of growth, China has announced many initiatives that display its global aspirations to develop and advance the notion of the innovative economy. In particular, instead of using its massive labor force to replicate goods and manufactured products developed mostly by Western firms like before, the government has implemented a large-scale organic endeavor to bring out the entrepreneurial spirit of China. Specifically, billion-dollar investments from the government and leading tech enterprises, a huge domestic consumption market, and a growing talent base have transformed the Chinese innovation process completely.

In particular, since 2015, the State Council of China has put forward several innovation-centric national strategic initiatives such as the “Internet Plus,” “13th Five-Year Plan,” “Made in China 2025” and the “New Generation of Artificial Intelligence Development Plan.”  These initiatives aim to encourage more digital innovations by leveraging the Internet of Things, big data, cloud computing and AI technologies to construct a “Digital China.” Backed by strong government mandates, incentive plans, and billions of dollars in both private and public investment, China has made significant progress in building a solid digital foundation to cement itself as a leader in the global innovation market. It now ranks among the top three worldwide for venture capital investment in key areas such as digital technology, including virtual reality, autonomous vehicles, 3D printing, robotics, and AI. China is also one of the world’s largest e-commerce markets and is already a major global force in mobile payments.

From Gartner Research, as of December 2017, the total number of internet users in China reached 772 million, representing a market penetration rate of 55.8%. Furthermore, the shared economy business, which integrates social resources to serve civilians, was booming in 2017. The number of users of shared bicycles, for example, reached 221 million. In addition, the number of people using mobile payments in China increased to 531 million in 2017, and users’ mobile habits are being further consolidated by the day. This large mobile user base and exponential growth in consumer data generated by the digital market are facilitating a future for even better and more advanced digital innovations. Thus, the integration of innovative digital technologies into various industries has led to the emergence of new markets. From this, we are also witnessing the creation of new products and services that will serve as the impetus driving China’s future economic development and new open innovation strategies.

China’s digitalized economy is the ideal environment for Open Innovation

China’s leading factors driving the development of China’s digitalized economy include one, a robust young market that enables rapid commercialization, two, well-capitalized tech giants building rich digital ecosystems, and three, a relaxed regulatory environment promoting innovation and experimentation.

[China’s tech ecosystem is ideal for welcoming new open innovation strategies – Source: Daxue Consulting]

Unlike their U.S. counterparts, Chinese tech infrastructures (software and platform solutions) can be easily tailored to meet a diverse set of client needs. Chinese platforms are also more scalable, open, customizable, and flexible compared to their MNC counterparts. This is where the two sides need to work together, an opportunity for foreign firms to tap into China’s open innovation market. However, it is important to understand that China’s open innovation strategy has largely been successful for Chinese firms due to the advantageous treatment they receive from the government. In addition, they benefit greatly on a policy level simply by being domestic and homegrown. Another factor foreign enterprises must take into consideration regarding their China-based OI initiatives.

Open Innovation Strategy: Riding the wave of China’s Digital Transformation

Digitalization is increasing the interconnectedness of business ecosystems, making it quick and easy to connect everything including organizations, machines, and individuals. This physical and digital interconnectedness is necessary for providing the intelligence needed to manage business complexity. As a result, digital technologies have underpinned and accelerated the importance of business ecosystems for modern and globally adaptive enterprises. A business ecosystem is a dynamic network of entities (people, businesses and things) interacting with one another creating and exchanging value. Business ecosystems offer firms unprecedented access to more business resources and talent on a global scale. This has set the stage for open innovation as enterprises have the ability to improve upon their business models and to provide new services, products, and customer experiences. In order to leverage business ecosystems, organizations will need to shift the entire paradigm of their enterprise model. Replacing the traditional supply-demand economic perspective with a more ecosystem driven perspective that sees the organization as a participant in a wider, more dynamic network of entities.

Therefore, in order to tap into the potential of the innovative Chinese market, or strengthen one’s position, firms must employ these tactics moving forward. The primary OI strategies used by global and Chinese corporates in the Chinese market that have accelerated them to the top of their league are: business ecosystem interactions, academic (knowledge) collaborations, application and platform innovations through 3^rd party developers, interacting with users, and collaboration with start-ups.

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1. Open innovation in China through ecosystem interaction – external resource integration

For a growing number of companies, it makes sense to base their entire operations in China in order to commercialize innovations and penetrate the local market. As a result, China becomes the head operational center within the businesses ecosystem, from which companies spread their firm innovations to other emerging markets in Asia and elsewhere in China. This not only benefits the firm geographically in having this proximity to their targeted consumers. But also, is beneficial in terms of having access to specified development zones and technology clusters where they can take advantage of China’s local talent and huge supplier base to accelerate innovation.

In these efforts, organizations are increasingly looking outward on their network and constantly expanding externally within their business ecosystems to drive innovation. To capitalize on these opportunities, CIOs must develop a proactive innovation strategy and select the right mix of business and technology tools to support this strategy. A business ecosystem can drive value as it enables various parties to expose another firm’s capabilities and leverage the capabilities of others to create new services, products, and customer experiences. As organizations can either run power ecosystems or participate in them, these structures and interactions become particularly unique in the digital age. Powerful conglomerates such as Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, Amazon, Google serve as interesting open innovation examples of this framework.

[Alibaba open innovation strategy in China – Source: Alibaba]

Here is a diagram of Alibaba’s business ecosystem in China. As seen above, the diagram shows the deeply integrated network of Alibaba’s diverse portfolio containing physical retail, e-commerce, cloud infrastructures, and digital media

An open innovation example of foreign firms taking advantage of China’s vast digital ecosystems can be seen from the recent  Starbucks and Alibaba partnership to transform the coffee experience in China. Starbucks indicated that weakness in their China business was due to a change in the delivery environment and that they needed to become more aggressive on delivery by partnering with a third-party vendor. As a result, Starbucks will collaborate across the key businesses within Alibaba’s ecosystem including Ele.me, Hema, Tmall, Taobao, and Alipay to improve their brand. Particularly, they have established “Starbucks Delivery Kitchens” for better delivery order fulfillment. Additionally, they have integrated their presence throughout Alibaba’s multiple platforms in the creation of an unprecedented virtual Starbucks store, providing an unparalleled and even more personalized online Starbucks experience for Chinese customers. This announcement is a great example of implementing open innovation strategies in China as the two iconic, global companies build on their distinct retail and technological strengths to revolutionize the customer experience. Leveraging Alibaba’s ecosystem and ‘New Retail’ infrastructure, Starbucks will be able to provide a unified seamless Starbucks Experience between its store and online presence for customers.

[Open innovation example: LL’Oréeal China CEO Stéphane Rinderknech (left) strategy with and Tmall – President Jet Jing shake hands at a kick-off ceremony in Hangzhou for the companies’ new partnership. Source: Alizila]

[Open innovation example: L’Oréal China innovative strategy – Alibaba’s Tmall and L’Oréal China partner up to launch a new campaign for men’s grooming products. Source: Tmall]

Another company that has implemented a successful open innovation strategy in China vis a vis, external engagement with China’s digital ecosystems is L’Oréal China. L’Oréal China recently announced that it would partner with Tmall’s dedicated research and development arm to create male beauty products specifically for the Chinese market. The partnership aims to catalyze the consumer-to-business (C2B) approach and add a new value chain that better connects consumers, products, and channels. The deal will bring together the China division of L’Oréal and the Tmall Innovation Center (TMIC) to leverage insights from Alibaba’s over 600 million users to help the company tailor its product development and marketing strategies to Chinese consumers. TMIC guides brands through all stages of the production cycle—from discovery to design to development—including market research in China, sales and data analysis and even product testing. Alibaba’s Tmall will assist L’Oreal in providing access to new markets. With Tmall’s unparalleled customer insight, it serves as a great ecosystem partner to help L’Oréal China offer customers its best-in-class personalized product experiences.

As the number-one beauty company in the Chinese market, L’Oréal China will continue to deepen its collaboration with innovative partners locally to unleash the value of data insights and create value for their consumers. In both cases, L’Oréal and Starbucks have successfully engaged with the external ecosystems available to them in order to advance their product and innovate upon their business strategy. By partnering with Alibaba, both companies gained access to a whole new population of digital customers. This ‘New Retail’ strategy of infusing their mortar based operations with an established online presence has allowed them to digitally innovate and outsource a portion of their business while staying focused on their product. They are thus perfect examples of successful open innovation in China using different innovation methods to activate new growth drivers.

2. Open innovation through Inward Ecosystem Interaction

Innovation starts with insight. Typically, companies have formal innovation methods for generating insights such as from market research departments, R&D labs, and product development groups. These departments do market research, survey consumers in China, and run experiments to gather this knowledge. But there are many other insightful sources of innovation, both inside and outside the organization that companies often fail to use. One of those is the use of internal competition and expertise to generate ideas. Specifically, employees can be excellent sources of creativity that can inform future innovation directions due to their intimate understanding of the company and its products and markets.

3. Open innovation through Collaboration – Innovation and research centers in China

Complex problems demand collaborative responses, whether that’s creating an innovative new service or solving a firm-wide issue, no one organization or individual can do it alone. What’s then required is a collaboration among actors with complementary capabilities and assets, along with network proximity to prestigious knowledge hubs. When a business actor reaches out externally, whether to academia or sector-specific research centers to solve an industry problem, this allows the firm to gain exposure to previously closed sources of knowledge, and when utilized in the proper context, bring innovative solutions to the business.

L’Oréal again provides a great example of how product making companies have implemented an open innovation strategy using research centers in China. The company opened a Research and Innovation center in Pudong district, Shanghai to better adapt its global strategy to the specific features of the Chinese market. L’Oréal’s Research Centre is the first facility of its type operated by a cosmetics company equipped with a world-class team of chemists and physicists to advance the understanding of the unique properties of the hair and skin of Chinese consumers.  L’Oréal will leverage the valuable knowledge that is obtained from the research that is conducted at the Pudong L’Oréal Research Centre to develop innovative and better performing new hair care, skincare, and cosmetic products for a growing number of Chinese and Asian consumers worldwide. 

[Research Center in China, Pudong – Source: L’Oréal China] Researchers at the Research and Innovation Center in Pudong, China. Source: L’Oreal]

[L’Oréal innovation methods in China – Source: L’Oréal China]

L’Oréal and Ipsos carried out a study, “Portraits of Chinese Women” to unveil and better understand the beauty rituals of Chinese women. This study portrays L’Oréal’s China customer-centric approach with its research department focusing on the specific aesthetic features of Chinese women.

In addition, with China’s world-class infrastructure, abundant skills and strong support from the government, earlier this summer BMW China announced the opening of its new Research & Development Center in China, Shanghai. The center will be the spearhead of innovation for BMW’s R&D network in China and serve as an incubator for future technologies. The Shanghai R&D Center will focus on autonomous driving, digital services, and futuristic design, and will expand collaboration with leading high-tech companies. With its team of experienced and talented professionals, the Chinese Research and Development Center will bring more and more innovative technologies to Chinese customers.

[Research and Development in China: BMW China strategy is to go open source in its autonomous driving endeavor. Source: Computer Business Review]

It comprises four departments focusing on future mobility trends and innovative design: the Technology Office China, Digital Products & Services and Digitalization Customer Interface, a Connected and Automated Driving Lab, and the Designworks Shanghai Studio. It covers over 2,500 m² and features an open and flexible working environment that inspires employees and improves cooperation. The R&D team is made up of over 200 technical specialists and designers. More than 90% are Chinese. They come from diverse scientific backgrounds: big data, robotics, AI, human-machine interface, mechanical engineering, business model development, and economics. All the departments of the Shanghai R&D Centre work with other BMW R&D departments around the world as part of a collaborative effort to transform the BMW Group into a high-tech mobility service company. This endeavor by BMW showcases its superior business strategy in open innovation. By establishing a knowledge network of experts to test and improve their product, they can ensure for a consistent and top quality BMW vehicle customized for the Chinese market to be delivered. Furthermore, by incorporating digital and innovative tech labs for organically driven research, BMW strengthens its overall competitiveness in the market and diversifies its business through the assimilation of external innovations.

Within the automotive industry, in particular, companies operating in China are facing a diverse set of challenges in a complex environment. In order to stay competitive and relevant in their respective markets, companies like BMW have been integrating external innovations with emerging tech into their own business model. A trend is pointing towards the notion that the success of a foreign MNC operating in China depends on its ability to adopt an open innovation strategy.

4. Open innovation through Collaboration – Platforms

This node in the open innovation paradigm reflects the trendy rise of the platform business model. Platform business models have sprung up to leverage opportunities within the business ecosystem. A business-driven framework allows a community of partners, providers, and customers to share and enhance digital processes and capabilities. This framework enables for a different combination of business models, leadership, talent, delivery and IT infrastructures that power digital business ecosystems for open innovation. Thus, the platform simply presents organizations with a practical way to innovate and create new forms of value.

[Open innovation example in China: Apollo, a Baidu AI platform-Source: Apollo]

An open innovation example of a Chinese platform that foreign MNCs can take advantage of is Baidu’s Apollo.  In April 2017, Baidu announced a one-of-a-kind open platform — Apollo — for autonomous driving solutions, roping in partners from across the globe. As with other open-source platforms, the idea is to accelerate AI and autonomous driving research by opening it up to contributions from other players in the ecosystem. Making the source code available to everyone allows companies to build off of existing research instead of starting from scratch. Apollo delivers an open, complete and reliable software platform for its partners in the automotive and autonomous driving industry. Furthermore, the “Apollo” project offers a complete hardware and software service solution that includes vehicle, hardware and software platforms, as well as cloud data services. Baidu will also open source code and capabilities in obstacle perception, trajectory planning, vehicle control, vehicle operating systems, and other functions which will include a complete set of testing tools. The company will begin by initiating a partnership alliance, working with partners who will provide the best and most compatible vehicles, sensors and other components to achieve broad participation and collaboration. It will also provide references and recommendations to participants of a rapidly expanding ecosystem enabled by Project Apollo. This will be used to lower the entry barriers for research and development of autonomous driving technologies, making it more accessible to the general public and accelerating the overall pace of innovation.

 At the CES Asia 2018, BMW China and Baidu announced the signing of an agreement between BMW Connected and Baidu Internet of Vehicles on home-to-vehicle cooperation. The cooperation between BMW Connected and Baidu Internet of Vehicles provides further evidence of BMW’s “In China, for China” Research and Development strategy. BMW has been actively building and integrating China’s digital ecosystem, expanding the implementation of its open innovation cooperation with leading Chinese high-tech companies, and is committed to creating a diversified and smart mobility experience for Chinese consumers. BMW Connected seamlessly integrates vehicles into their users’ digital lives via multiple touchpoints, such as the iPhone and Apple Watch. It is powered by the BMW Open Mobility Cloud, a highly flexible, cloud-based system. With BMW Connected, mobility extends beyond the vehicle. BMW is committed to building a comprehensive mobility ecosystem and providing intelligent, seamless and personalized mobility services for customers.

[BMW innovation strategy in China: Display of BMW’s connected smart vehicle dashboard. Source: New mobility]

As a result, foreign companies have the opportunity to partner with Baidu and have access to their open-source platform of higher technologies for vehicles.  The Apollo platform ecosystem alliance has reached to over 100 partners, ranging from Original Equipment Manufacturers, Tier1s, core suppliers, travel service providers, emerging companies, hedge funds and investment firms, research institutions, and related governments. Thus, this platform merely serves as a small example of how firms can implement an open innovation strategy in China by engaging with other partners within a general ecosystem of diverse specializations.

5. Open innovation in China through Applications and APIs

Application leaders derive maximum value from new technologies like artificial intelligence, API programs, service-oriented architecture, and the five platforms for digital business: information systems, customer experience, data and analytics, the internet of things, and ecosystems. Therefore, creating APIs that enable ecosystem interactions is important if an enterprise is to benefit from digital business technology platforms and grow into markets that were previously beyond its traditional model of reach.

Applications are important for open innovation enterprises in China because they allow the business to engage in ecosystems that connect them to new partners. For this to be successful, enterprise leaders need to know how to manage APIs as products that their partners and customers wish to use. However, for many Western MNCs delivering business value via applications is dying out as firms struggle to deliver next-generation experiences using innovative application architectures, APIs and machine learning. Hence, application leaders must adopt a product-centric model to maximize the value they deliver on new digital platforms.

APIs are all about empowering users and creating partnerships. APIs have the ability to completely transform your product or an entire business into something much, much better, a platform. By turning your product into a platform (as Apple did to iOS with their app store) you can effectively crowdsource features and innovation from your developer community. There is one main reason why companies build an app ecosystem – to reach a wider audience. Every single app created by your community is another feature that puts you on par with or differentiates you from your competition. Every single feature in your product opens up new and wonderful use cases. Every single use case attracts users that can now use your product to solve their specific problem. Successful companies crowdsource innovation from their community by developing an app ecosystem. It’s an effective way of building a competitive advantage and growing your user base but only if you are ready to commit the resources.

[L’Oréal innovation strategy in China: ‘Makeup’ app lets women virtually try on cosmetics – of the Source: AdAge]

[Open innovation example in China: L’Oréal China bringing new, technology-driven innovative features to enhance the shopping experience for customers. Source: Alizila]

L’Oréal China has begun to promote its huge collection of brands in a high-tech manner through applications with the acquisition of Modiface. Modiface is a beauty tech company that has been teaming up with big cosmetics brands for over a decade to create augmented reality apps for mobile and desktop. Modi faces AR tech powers quite a lengthy list of beauty platforms, including an application where you can digitally try on Estee Lauder’s lipsticks, which you can see in the image below. Furthermore, Modiface also manufactures AR mirrors that superimpose makeup on your face in real time. These technologies are essential because by allowing customers to use AR to try on and test beauty products in the store, it allows for a more immersive and interactive experience that is more customer friendly and preferable to the individual. Thus, it creates value in two ways, firstly, via the commercialization of engaging technologies that enhance customer loyalty and attraction, and secondly, by cutting costs on inventory. For beauty companies, this second facet allows them to now save the products they had previously needed to allocate for testing and sampling.

3^rd party Ecosystem: Integrating the App into a platform

For example, a major part of Tencent’s open innovation strategy with WeChat is the development of the app alongside 3rd party internet services and developers. A large portion of WeChat’s success was Tencent’s open innovation strategy in partnering with 3rd party services and developers who were given free reign over Tencent’s platforms and large user base. This helped to develop Tencent’s WeChat into a more user-friendly and service-based app, as opposed to simply being a one-dimensional social media messenger. 3rd party services allowed for external enterprises to use Tencent’s platforms and mini-apps to attract users to their brand and make business transactions for profit. Thus, WeChat’s in-app code allows itself to serve as a hosting platform for other entities. As a result, foreign marketers now have the opportunity to innovate their business by integrating within this open platform and promote their product through social media and advertisement.

[Open innovation in China: L’Oréal’s China social media presence through on WeChat’s 3rd party social platform. Source: L’Oréal China]

6. Open innovation through User interaction

With ever-increasing connectivity, the number and density of connections between people, organizations and things are increasing almost exponentially. All organizations have the ability to connect to a diverse web of customers, partners, and even machines and this can be leveraged for your open innovation strategy in China. Bandwidth and storage are no longer limiting factors. From new insights provided by information and analytics, organizations now have the ability to access, process and analyze vast amounts of information. Analytics gives insights into complexity, revealing new patterns and insights making it possible to create and manage complex business ecosystems. This trend is making information about the organization’s most valuable asset. In accelerating the test, learn, and refine cycle to attain China caliber speeds, companies need to compress the time it takes to turn customer feedback and other data into new features or products.

Furthermore, user interaction allows for a way to engage directly with the Chinese consumer.  This relates to the API economy, where business models and channels are based on an exchange of data from the users of the app to an ecosystem of developers. Thus, the internet has provided a way to get instant feedback from consumers everywhere, and Chinese consumers are particularly eager to share their opinions. In online forums and Chinese social media sites, they talk about products they like, share advice, and voice opinions about features, pricing, or policies they dislike. Many Chinese consumer-facing companies have special websites for customers to share their opinions and personalized social media pages where fans can gather and research the product or service. Xiaomi, for example, regularly posts proposed features for smartphone software on an online forum for its fans. Consumers vote for their favorite ideas, and the company adds popular ones to the product development system, sometimes within a week. As a result, Xiaomi has more competitive products and more loyal customers.

7. Open innovation through Startup Collaboration

By working with startups through external digital platforms, Lenovo, for example, has been able to innovate its product line and better meet the needs of its customers. The “Lenovo New Business Development” platform is similar to a startup incubator and allows Lenovo to work with the world’s top start-up teams in exchange for access to Lenovo’s software, hardware development, market, channel, and other services in exchange for startup equity. The NBD has allowed the company to openly innovate its products with the help of startups who are focused on unique and innovative strategies in China. In addition, by adding specialized industry expertise in fields that the company has no previous experience in.

Chinese OI Technologies Forecasted to Disrupt the Industry

Given strong economic growth along with government mandates and incentive plans in digital innovation, enterprises in China now more than ever have the opportunity to digitally disrupt their industries. The exponential growth in recent years in the number of mobile users and online shopping has facilitated innovations in digital marketing that better digest customer behaviors and improve customer service. Also, the next wave of emerging technologies driven by AI has provided businesses with the potential to expand and enhance their products and services. The Chinese government has nominated AI as a major national economic strategy for the next decade. It has become an important driving force in the modern day technological revolution and industrial transformation that will profoundly change the means of human production and ways of life. Thus, businesses looking to capture the Chinese open innovation market must accelerate the adoption of new technologies, including BI and analytics, AI and cloud computing. Furthermore, they must increase their innovative, driven investments in order to be in the best position to capture the digital business opportunities of China’s tomorrow.

The Challenges in Establishing Open Innovation Initiatives in China

Despite the inconveniences due to China’s cybersecurity and data sharing related laws, along with concerns about a market being less welcoming to foreign companies, foreign companies operating in China nevertheless still plan to continue their businesses and increase their investments in China. From the AmCham China 2018 Business Climate Survey, investment in Research and Development in China rose 3%, with 32% of companies increasing investment. Although China has been actively encouraging foreign companies to establish R&D bases in the country, most companies still emphasize ‘development,’ and not the research part of Research and Development. Also noted in the survey, more companies in certain industries are upgrading their digital capabilities in order to overcome increasing market competition and rising operational costs. In particular, technology hardware, software, and services (79%) and automotive (70%) reported the most ambitious plans for Research and Development in China increased investment.

As China embarks on the path of restructuring its economy from manufacturing to knowledge-driven, export to domestic consumption driven, and from low-cost low-quality to higher-cost higher-quality, there will be more and more innovations that will attract greater interest from abroad. Presently, there are boundless opportunities for foreign companies with advanced technologies and products to enter the Chinese market. At the same time, however, the accelerating pace of digitalization has made it increasingly difficult for foreign firms to respond to and take advantage of the disruptive technologies needed such as artificial intelligence, IoT, cloud computing, automated manufacturing, and logistics, and blockchain enabled supply chains.

Furthermore, companies in China are facing challenges in adjusting to rapidly-changing markets, competing with local counterparts, recruiting and retaining high-quality talent, evolving their business models and supply chains, developing effective Research and Development functions locally and partnering with smaller local businesses. Thus, the need for more in-depth market insight and continued reforms regarding partnerships, fair treatment, and collaboration around technology for OI in China is greater than ever before.

Daxue Consulting has robust experience with open innovation in China

Daxue Consulting’s unique expertise in Chinese market research and niche insight into China’s technological revolution has afforded the ability to successfully assist clients in establishing open innovation initiatives. In the endeavor to implement an OI initiative, Daxue Consulting can produce an optimized research structure to understand the innovation within a particular industry in China. Our broad market oversight allows us to scout for specific innovations that can make your business more competitive and technologically up to date. Furthermore, being agile in market analysis, our service provides clients with a bespoke landscape roadmap that helps them navigate the complexity of their initiatives.

In particular, Daxue Consulting’s insightful knowledge of the current market situation combined with the ability to assess an industry’s level of maturity allows us to better advise enterprises on how to position themselves in China. Working on the ground in China gives an intimate understanding of where China’s geographical networks of innovation and alliances of guanxi are located is crucial to the success of your OI endeavor.

Daxue Consulting offers a strategic advisory for businesses at the micro level. Following initial research, we screen the industry for competition and potential startup collaborations. This process allows us to most effectively engage the traditional OI strategy of providing a touch point for business to interact with innovative ecosystems and partner with local startups. Our holistic offering affords us with a proper framework to break down the value chain and provide businesses with the ability to capture innovations they need and integrate them into their model.

Author: Jeffrey Craig

If you want to know more about Open Innovation strategy in China and innovation methods in China, do not hesitate to contact us at dx@daxueconsulting.com

This article Open Innovation: Transforming your Business in China | Daxue Consulting is the first one to appear on Daxue Consulting - Market Research China.

The One Child Policy: Conflict between policy and tradition

China’s One Child Policy was Implemented in 1979 by Deng Xiaoping to curb China’s massive population. This was the beginning of decades of bias against girls, as female babies were often aborted and left in orphanages or public places, such as trains and in the streets. Chinese society has long been patriarchal, and to this day, many Chinese families believe a male is better for the family because they are stronger and more capable. China also has a tradition of “多子多福” which translates to “many children many happiness.” Having long been an agricultural society, the Chinese were accustomed to having big families to work in the fields, and to take care of elderly parents in their old age. The introduction of the One Child Policy changed this, and families not only panicked over having one child but feared the idea of having that one child be a girl. By estimate, around 37 million Chinese girls were lost in since the policy was enacted.

Low class, low education, and low income making up a majority of leftover men

The One Child Policy was reversed in 2016 in light of a large aging population and a declining workforce. Yet birth rates continue to drop. Decades of the policy has made a lasting impact on the Chinese society, where people have weaned off of the desire for marriage and children as exemplified by “leftover women.” But leftover men in China, especially those in rural areas, are a much different concept. While leftover women willingly hold off marriage to focus on their career and education, leftover men in China are eager to get married. In an age where those living in cities are less focused on getting married, many of those being women, Chinese men are more desperate for marriage than ever.

Unmarried Chinese men facing unhopeful prospects: Bachelor Villages

But it is not just traditional values that are perpetuating this phenomenon. Marriage in China is complicated; many wealth-related factors are taken into account, such as ownership of cars and estate. However, gender imbalances are the most severe in poor rural areas, where patriarchal perceptions are most prominently manifest. In these places, Chinese women often leave the villages in hopes of finding a husband in the city, leaving an even sharper gender imbalance.

Such villages have taken on the name of “Bachelor Villages.” Men in these positions do not have enough money to provide for wives or potential families. In this sense, Chinese men are faced with strong economic pressures in addition to traditional family values. As a result, Bachelor Villages have formed where there exists an overwhelming excess of unmarried Chinese men facing unhopeful prospects for their future of marriage.

Migrant workers and an epidemic of loneliness in a modern China

Troubles continue to arise for this excess of men, who are now also faced with an epidemic of loneliness. A large percentage of leftover men in China are migrant workers who come from rural areas to work in cities mainly in construction. A series of state-conducted surveys revealed loneliness to be “the defining aspect of the migrant experience” primarily due to the lack of romantic prospects. Another survey discovered more than 70% of construction workers reporting emotional loneliness as the most painful aspect of their lives.

Migrant workers (largely men) face many societal challenges in a rapidly modernizing China. Migrant workers leave home at a very early age to pursue employment opportunities in the city. Yet these jobs are typically very hard working with low pay and minimal benefits. Without advanced education, these unmarried men are not qualified for more secure, higher paying jobs – which makes dating incredibly difficult. Not do long hours make it hard to date, their poor economic status doesn’t make for an attractive option in the eyes of women, and their low education makes it nearly impossible to ever reach a status deemed “worthy” for females.

This phenomenon takes a toll on the mindset of migrant workers as well, who don’t have enough money to feel confident. They also feel a sense of let-down towards their parents, who remain worried for their children’s welling until they get start a family. Chinese children have a strong sense of filial piety. Marrying off and having children is seen as repayment for their parents’ years of sacrifices to raise them.

We can see that marriage is an issue just of personal desire and physiological needs, but also a deep-rooted sense of cultural, and traditional obligation.

Applying a marketing perspective towards China’s gender gap

It seems that not many marketing efforts are aimed at leftover men in China. Rather, companies are more interested in leftover women since these women have a higher socio-economic status, and live in urban, high-consumption areas. Females also make up a slightly larger percentage of consumers in China. There are over 711 million men in China, many of them unmarried in both urban and rural areas. While the mens’ beauty and clothing market are two industries among the fastest growth, marketing to men, in general, is an area that is not yet saturated, even towards the segment of urban men. It is interesting that despite the much larger ratio of men to women, marketing efforts are aimed more towards women than men. By 2025, China will add 350 million more people to its urban population, and 240 million of those will be migrants. As China’s urban population continues to grow, marketers should be aware of the leftover men segment and the implications of China’s gender gap for the years to come.

Leftover men during COVID-19 outbreak

According to a study published by Baihe Jiayuan Network Group in Beijing from March 2020, 50% of single men felt lonely at home while only 33% of single women did during the coronavirus outbreak. Most notably, the lower the educational level, the less happy one was. In other words, those who felt the loneliest during the pandemic were the “leftover men” with low income, low education, and are in the lower class. Furthermore, during Chinese New Year, men’s search rates for topics related to dating was a high 69%, whereas it was only 31% for women. As Chinese New Year is a festive time for family gatherings, a commonly discussed topic is marriage. With the unforeseen coronavirus outbreak clashing with Chinese New Year, those born just after 1985 feel the pressure of getting married due to aging: 68% of men felt more pressured versus only 46% of women did. In a country where the male population far exceeds females due to the One Child Policy, men are more anxious and hurried than women in getting married than ever in China. The global pandemic brings barriers to offline dating including blind dates and the traditional Chinese way of parents introducing their friends’ sons and daughters. As a result, many have resorted to online dating, and there are more “leftover men” on online dating apps than ever in order to cure their feelings of solitude.

Author: Julia Qi

Daxue Consulting helps you get the best of the Chinese market

Do not hesitate to reach out to our project managers at dx@daxueconsulting.com to get all answers to your questions.

This article Leftover Men: Loneliness, bachelor villages, and China’s massive gender gap | Daxue Consulting is the first one to appear on Daxue Consulting - Market Research China.

1. In 2016, the growth rate of Chinese travel to Eastern Europe had increased by 226%. Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Serbia and Slovenia have the highest increase in tourism. After the Chinese government announced the “Belt and Road Initiative”, countries in the path of the prospective belt road had increased travel. Eastern European countries like Russia, the Czech Republic, Hungary are countries that benefited from this policy. Chinese tour groups do not need to get a travel visa when they go to Russia. Moreover, sophisticated travel packages and services are provided to Chinese travelers, such as non-stop flights and the three people no Visa needed policy. Czech Republic National pavilion was opened in Shanghai Free Trade Zone, and president of the Czech Republic attended “Travel convention” to talk about new travel policies that gave more benefits to Chinese travelers.

2. Traveling in Eastern Europe costs less compared to Western Europe. Language is not a big issue despite a lot of these countries having their own language. Most people in Eastern Europe are able to speak in English, and it would not be an issue for Chinese travelers who speak basic English. Usually, Chinese travelers will visit multiple Eastern Europe countries in one trip, and stay for a very short time in each (usually 1-2 days per country).

3. The history in these countries is fascinating to Chinese tourists. Chinese tourists would like to understand the communist background. Architecture in Eastern Europe contains both new and old styles, Chinese tourists like to see the well-maintained old style buildings.

Czech Republic (Czechoslovakia): Prague, Cesky Krumlov

The search frequency of the Czech Republic on Baidu index from 2011 to 2018, the highest peak was in March 2016 [Source: Daxue Consulting]

The search frequency of Prague and Cesky Krumlov on Baidu index from 2011 to 2018. The highest peak was in February 2015 [Source: Daxue Consulting]

Prague

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

Comments and recommendations on Chinese social media include the following

1. Food in the Czech Republic is affordable and high quality, Café Louvre and Café imperial are two recommended restaurants.
2. Bohemia and Prague are two must go places according to online comments.
3. Qyer.com’s homepage recommends a 2days trip to the Republic of Czech.
4. May to September is the recommended time for traveling.

Prague is like a mid-century museum. Historical sites, like churches, castles, opera theatres and museums made this city into a fairy tale setting. The Prague square is often being described as a romantic place; this place is very well known by Chinese people because of one of Jay Chou’s famous songs.

Cesky Krumlov

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

[Source: Screenshot from Xiaohongshu]

Miss. Clare, the author of this post, recommended the restaurant “Krcma v satiavske ulici”. This restaurant is also called “Cave restaurant”, it was redesigned from a jail. The decoration was very unique; however, she did not appreciate the service in this restaurant, and the fact that most of the other guests were other Chinese tourists takes away from the authentic experience. She notes that you cannot use a credit card in this restaurant, you can only use cash.

“It is a famous restaurant, please reserve a table in advance. Barbecue is the food recommended by most guests.”

Miss. Clare recommended two restaurants, Papa’s living restaurant and Antre.

Where can Chinese travelers stay in Cesky Krumlov?

Cesky Krumlov is a small city and many hotels are changed by personal houses. We recommend Pension Athanor Hotel. It has a big room and tasty food, 4 euro per person and very quiet.

Where can Chinese travelers go in Cesky Krumlov?

The main urban area is a good place to see sunsets and sunrises.

Schiele Museum is a good place for art lovers to view famous paintings.

Austria: Hallstatt, Vienna

The search frequency of Austria on Baidu index from 2011 to 2018, the highest peak was in June 2016 [Source: Daxue Consulting]

The search frequency of Hallstatt and Vienna on Baidu index from 2011 to 2018, the highest peak was in April 2018 [Source: Daxue Consulting]

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

The top three cities in Austria that Baidu recommenders are Vienna, Hallstatt and Salzburg. 615 people clicked “wants to go” for Vienna, 180 for Hallstatt, and Saltsburg got 311.

Hallstatt

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

Hallstatt is a village in Salzkammergut, Austria. It is set on the Lake of Hallstatt, the village is known as “the most beautiful village in the world” for nice scenery. Historically, this area obtained his wealth by salt, therefore, the village is also called “the world’s most ancient center of salt”. Hallstatt has been listed as world cultural heritage by UNESCO. Now, it is a popular tourist destination, people can walk around the village in 10 minutes. The best time for traveling: spring and autumn.

Hallstatt must-see and ~do

1. Old salt mine
2. Skelton Church
3. Rafting on Hallstatt lake

These destinations all listed on top recommended things to do on travel websites, and have long histories.

[Source: Screenshot from Xiaohongshu]

Hallstatt is a place that you never want to miss. It’s very similar to what the Chinese Poet “Tao Yuanming” wrote in “Taohuayuanji桃花源记”. Taohuayuanji is a Chinese famous poem form, which describes a writer who unexpectedly traveled to a mysterious island.

The cemetery by the church is worth visiting because it is like a beautiful garden that is not one bit depressing, really makes you think that life after death one can find happiness.

From Vienna to Hallstatt is a three and a half hour drive, the two of us took turns driving and drove there and back in one day. Driving towards the mountains was very nice because of the beautiful scenery, a lot like Switzerland. Austria’s roads are pretty good. What I really like is that there is no age limit to car rentals.

Route: buy tickets from the OBB website, take a boat to the town after arriving at the train station. It is hard to go and come back on the same day.

Vienna

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

The following are recommendations from Chinese tourists online

1. Experience the coffee culture in Austria. Couple highly recommended cafés are: Café Central, Café museum, Café Sacher.
2. People who like classical music should visit Vienna. A lot of famous musicians were born there, the Golden stadium also attracts many travelers.
3. The top Austria travel post on C-trip listed some restaurants including Plachuttas Gasthaus Oper fried steak, apple pie from Wiener Apfelstrudel and Griechenbeisl. They are all very famous around the world, and either visited by famous people or have hundreds of years’ history.

Croatia: Dubrovnik, Brijuni National Park, Plitvice Lakes National Park

The search frequency of Croatia on Baidu index from 2011 to 2018, the highest peak was in July 2018 [Source: Daxue Consulting]

Ranked by C-trip from top to low: Split, Dubrovnik, Zagreb, Rovini, Zadar, Sibenik [Source: Daxue Consulting]

Split

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

1. Must see from C-trip: Diocletian’s Palace (Ranking score 4.6/5, from 45 people), RIVA (4.8/5, from 12 people), Cathedral of St Domnius (4.6/5, from 16 people)
2. Restaurants: Dvor (109 comments, 4.1/5), Fife (132 comments, 4.0/5)
3. Hotels: Heritage Palace Varoš (12 comments, 4.5/5), Radisson Blu Resort & Spa, Split (14 comments, 4.4/5), Villa Toni Design Apartments (11 comments, 4.9/5)

Dubrovnik

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

Where do Chinese travelers eat in Dubrovnik?

Rank from C-trip: Restaurant Horizont (4.8/5, 11comments), Pantarul (4.1/5, 41comments), Azur Dubrovnik (4.2/5, 97 comments)

Where do Chinese travelers stay in Dubrovnik?

Rank from C-trip:  Hotel Dubrovnik Palace (4.6/5, from 14 comments), Rixos Libertas Dubrovnik (4.5/5, from 24 comments)

Comments from Chinese travelers about Dubrovnik

1. A lot of Chinese travelers visit Dubrovnik because of “The Game of Thrones”.
2. The long history of Dubrovnik fascinates Chinese travelers.
3. The cost of travel in Croatia is not expensive for most Chinese travelers. People believe Croatia is a place to get good experience without paying too much.

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Republic of Estonia: Tallinn

The search frequency of Estonia on Baidu index from 2011 to 2018, the highest peak was in March 2016 [Source: Daxue Consulting]

Tallinn

Tallinn tourist destination ranking: Tallinn St. Mary’s Cathedral, Toompea, Old town of Tallinn.

People like to visit Tallinn St. Mary’s Cathedral because it is the oldest church, and it is the only church that survived the fire in the 17^th century. The design of the church is spectacular, and people can enjoy the city view because it is located on the top of Tallinn Mountain.

The old town of Tallinn was listed as “World cultural heritage”, it was protected well and people can get an understanding of what this does city look like, even though couple century has passed. Chinese travelers are interested in history.

Where do Chinese travelers eat in Tallinn?

Rank from C-trip: Rataskaevu16 (4.8/5), Tchaikovsky (4.4/5), Von Krahli Aed (4.0/5)

Grades are mainly judged by service, taste, and environment.

Where do Chinese travelers stay in Tallinn?

Rank from C-trip: Hotel Palace by Tallinn Hotels, Hestia Hotel Europa Tallinn, Hotel Telegraaf Autograph Collection.

The grading criteria are mainly from service, room cleanness, size of the room, a location of the hotel, food tasting.

Among hotel reviews, providing breakfast is often correlated with positive reviews among Chinese customers. Online comments also often the appearance of servers and staff. People also tend to like hotels which appear to have new furniture.

Russia: Moscow, Saint Petersburg (St. Petersburg)

The search frequency of Russia on Baidu index from 2011 to 2018, the highest peak was in November 2016 [Source: Daxue Consulting]

The search frequency of St. Petersburg and Moscow on Baidu index from 2011 to 2018. The highest peak of St. Petersburg was in November 2016. The highest peak of Moscow was in June 2018 [Source: Daxue Consulting]

Moscow

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

Moscow destination ranking: Red square, The Moscow Kremlin, The Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed, Lenin Mausoleum, Alexander Garden, Arbat Street.

Chinese people believe the Red Square in Russian is an equivalent of Tiananmen Square in Beijing representing the history of the country.

The Moscow Kremlin is another representation of Russia, a large bell and artillery. It also named one of “The eight wonders of the world”. This place is the heart of Russia, politics, therefore a must go place. If you missed traveling to Moscow Kremlin, then you never traveled to Russia.

Where do Chinese travelers eat in Moscow?

Rank from C-trip: Café Pushkin (4.6/5), White Rabbit (4.7/5), Turandot (4.7/5).

Café Pushkin has a very famous history because of Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, who was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era. Alexander Pushkin is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literate. This restaurant is recommended by all travel websites. The design and atmosphere in here are very unique to Chinese customers, especially the Russian style design and decor.

White Rabbit is the top recommended a restaurant in Moscow, not only because of its 18^th worldwide ranking attracts visits, but also because of the 360-degree city view. Chinese travelers perceive this is the place worth to spend money compare to other restaurants.

White Rabbit restaurant in Moscow [Source: The worlds 50 best restaurants]

Where do Chinese travelers stay in Moscow?

Rank from C-trip: Metropol Hotel Moscow (4.8/5), Ararat Park Hyatt (4.9/5), Novotel Moscow City (4.8/5), Savoy Moscow Hotel (4.8/5).

Chinese people choose Metropol Hotel Moscow because Mao Zedong, and many other significant politicians, stayed there when visiting Russia. The location, service, history and building style are all excellent to Chinese travelers.

St. Petersburg

In 2016 a total of 107,000 Chinese citizens visited St. Petersburg for business and leisure, according to the Committee for the Development of Tourism of St.Petersburg. The flow of Chinese tourists entering the city on a visa-free system as part of tourist groups increased 2.4 times in the first half of 2017. The tourist flow contains a growing ratio of VIP travelers.

Where do Chinese travelers visit in St. Petersburg?

St. Petersburg destination ranking: Winter Palace, The Church of the Savior on Spilled, Peterhof Palace, Catherine, Kazan Cathedral, Nevsky Prospekt  [Source: Daxue Consulting]

The sophisticated travelers explore Russian history and arts, they are eager to visit the Hermitage Museum is the greatest attraction in Saint Petersburg – so it’s no wonder I’ve put it in the first place. The Hermitage is home to one of the largest paintings collections in the world, therefore seeing even half of it in one day is absolutely impossible. And Peterhof Palace also called “the Russian Versailles”. The Grand Palace used to be the main summer residence of Russian Tsars. The palace complex overlooks the Gulf of Finland and has several different sections, including the enormous Alexandra Park.

Among exclusive activities the Chinese pick interactive ‘Russian wedding ceremony’ and master classes in cooking borsch or painting matrioshka.

Shopping is the second most popular activity for the wealthy Chinese visitors after sightseeing. DLT Department store in St.Petersburg has a special perk for those who come for the VIP shopping.

Where do Chinese travelers stay in St. Petersburg?

The VIPs even travel by private planes and prefer accommodation in Four Seasons Lion Palace or Belmond Grand Europe, they pick best city hotels.

Where do Chinese travelers eat in St. Petersburg?

When it comes to food, most often VIP travelers choose fine dining places like Russian & European cuisine restaurants “Mansarda” and “Tsar”. The major concern when selecting the lunch or dinner place is a panoramic view and a separate room existing. To try Chinese cuisine in St.Petersburg the Chinese pick a popular “Tse Fung”, or “China Gramota”.

Hungary: Budapest

The search frequency of Hungary on Baidu index from 2011 to 2018, the highest peak was in June 2016 [Source: Daxue Consulting]

The search frequency of Budapest on Baidu index from 2011 to 2018, the highest peak was in November 2016 [Source: Daxue Consulting]

Budapest destination ranking: Chain Bridge, Fisherman’s Bastion, Buda castle, Hungary Capitol, Hero’s square, Matthias Church

C-trip ranked Chain bridge as the number one travel destination in Hungary. Many people said that their life goal is to visit all highly rated bridges on social media, Chain bridge is one of them. Travelers describe this bridge as a thoughtfully designed bridge, the lion statue on this bridge, the Danube river below and the length itself made this bridge very attractive to Chinese travelers.

Fisherman’s castle has a nice city view, from there, one can see the Dunabe River and a couple of famous bridges. The long history and the combination of Gothic and Nova Roma building design are unique to travelers.

Where do Chinese travelers eat in Budapest?

Rank from C-trip: New York Café (4.1/5), Gerbeaud (4.1/5), Gelarto Rosa (4.1/5).

New York café attracts many Chinese customers is because it is apparently ranked as the #1 café according to Chinese tourist comments. Chinese travelers like the food there and many of them mentioned that they never been to such a big café. People not only like the literacy atmosphere in here but also enjoy the luxury design and environment.

Where do Chinese travelers stay in Budapest?

Hilton, Intercontinental, Fraser Residence.

The Hilton is the top recommended hotel for Hungary, like many other destinations, Chinese tourists feel comfortable in a large chain hotel.

Related Reading:

Chinese tourists choose the US for travel	Chinese tourists choose West Europe for travel

Author: Changjun Tong

Our report on Chinese travellers:

Daxue Consulting helps you get the best of the Chinese market

Do not hesitate to reach out to our project managers at dx@daxueconsulting.com to get all answers to your questions.

This article Where do Chinese tourists travel, eat and stay while in Eastern Europe? | Daxue Consulting is the first one to appear on Daxue Consulting - Market Research China.

The implementation of Belt and Road Initiative has enhanced Chinese tourists’ understanding of Europe. The increase in new routes and charter flights has enabled Chinese consumers in second- and third-tier cities travel to Europe. Local terrorist attacks didn’t influence the Chinese people’s wishes of traveling, and we can see the trend of booming tourism of Chinese travelers to Europe in 2017.

  Overview of the 2016 European Tour among Chinese tourists

In 2016, Russia, Spain and the United Kingdom became the “stars” among Chinese tourists, with year-on-year growth rates of 41 percent, 32 percent and 18 percent respectively.

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

1.      Chinese travelers segmentation

• In 2017, 63% of Chinese travelers who went to Europe are female. Travelers can be allocated as 6 segments. 50-60 years old segment who has enough spending capability. The second largest is aged 40-50 years old.
• 85% of people choose group trip and 15% of people are individual planned travelers.
• 50% of travelers came from tire 1 cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen. 一线城市. 35% of travelers came from tire 2 cities.
• On average, travelers stay in Europe for 11 days.

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

2.      Chinese travelers booking preferences

• Booking online: 60% of people booked travel tickets through Smartphone Apps, whereas 40% of people booked through PC.
• Traditional Brick and Mortar stores are still the dominant channels for travelers to book travel plans, nearly 70% of people booked through these stores.

3.      Top questions from Chinese people who want to have an independent trip

• Which district is safe to stay in Paris?
• What are the movies that filmed in Belgium and where are these specific locations they filmed?
• What brands do British wear daily and where to buy?
• What are the most famous restaurants?
• How much cash is needed for daily expenses in Paris?

 Great Britain: London

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

The British Museum is highly recommended by a lot of people on C-trip. Some people even said if they only have one day to stay in the UK, they will spend the whole day here.

Chinese travelers are interested in Chinese collections because a lot of them were destroyed during the Eight-Power Allied Forces and Cultural Revolution, tourists will seek Chinese cultural relics out when traveling abroad.

Buckingham Palace. Travelers are interested in the experience the environment of the British Royal family.

Chinese travelers like to visit these places known for history and politics of the UK.

Where do Chinese tourists eat in the UK?

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

Tea at the Ritz. British afternoon tea is famous in the world and has influenced many other countries. Since Chinese travelers now want to experience and know more about the local culture, afternoon tea is one of the ways to represent this.

Many Chinese travelers are not used to the food in the UK, therefore opt for Chinese restaurants.

Where do Chinese travelers stay in the UK?

Chain stores, such as Hilton, Royal National Hotel London, are top choices for Chinese travelers.

Spain: Barcelona

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

• Sagrada Familia is the top recommended place in the unique buildings made from Gaudi and its colorful building style attracted many visitors.
• Spain ham is very famous and some travelers are willing to try it.
• Football culture and Spanish’s passions toward football is very special and attracts Chinese football fans.
• Chinese tourists recognize that Spain has a long history and its cultural inheritance is very different compared to other countries.
• Many Chinese travelers perceived Spain as a friendly country, Chinese travelers comment on the friendliness of the locals.

Where do Chinese tourists eat in Barcelona?

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

 Botafumeiro is the top restaurant in Spain because of its seafood. Seafood tends to be very popular among Chinese tourists in any country.

Restaurante Marinero has a very famous Spanish seafood paella and many Chinese are willing to try it.

Portugal: Porto, Lisbon

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

• Chinese perceive Portugal as a perfect combination of old and new, such as the construction of the city and culture inheritance.
• Portugal is very good for travel all year, but the best travel seasons are from April to September.
• Most Chinese travelers book group tours when they choose to go to Portugal and those tours are more like a travel package that contains other countries as well. It is because of language barriers, having a tour guide can help them to better understand the culture and history.
• Jerónimos Monastery and Belém Tower are representations of Lisbon.
• Lisbon has a lot of churches and these places attracted a lot of Chinese travelers.

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

Where do Chinese tourists eat in Lisbon?

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

France: Paris

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

• Chinese travelers perceive Paris as a romantic city;
• In recent years, some news reported Chinese tourists faced with such issues as pickpocketing, which is become more common.

Chinese are highly concerned about safety.

A traveler wrote the following recommendations for those who choose to go to Europe: “Europe’s public security is not as good as you think it is, there are a lot of thieves, and sometimes there is gun violence, even in hotel lobbies. Also, in Germany, there were many sexual assault cases on New Year’s Eve night.”

1. Be careful of your personal belonging when traveling to hot tourist’s destinations;
2. Do not bring lots of Cash;
3. Do not speak loud and bring anything that might make others think you are rich;
4. Do not answer back to random people who talk to you.

She also listed two other guides that specifically talks about safety in Paris.

The guide talks about safety in Paris: (a) Except for winter, any other seasons are very comfortable for traveling. (b) Many famous movies are filmed in Paris and this is one of the reasons that a lot of Chinese want to visit here. (c) The building style and culture in Europe, especially in a city like Paris, is totally different from anything they’ve experienced. (d) Museums, opera, fashion and food in Paris are very famous worldwide, these are factors influence Chinese traveler’s decision making on choosing destinations.

Where do Chinese tourists eat in Paris?

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

• There are many famous foods in Paris and Chinese know French for their catering industry.
• Travelers can get the top Wine, Foie Gras and seafood in France.
• Chinese travelers like to try out Michelin restaurants which are famous and affordable in France.

Where do Chinese travelers stay in Paris?

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

• Chinese travelers still choose hotels in Paris based on convenience. Distance to tourist destinations and shopping malls are very important.
• Top three hotel on the list is not very expensive compared to other famous Usually hotels famous on social media that have stunning views like the Eiffel Tower are over 2000RMB.

CONTACT US NOW TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT BUSINESS IN CHINA

Republic of Ireland: Dublin

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

Top recommended destinations on C-trip are Trinity College and Guinness Storehouse. Queen Elizabeth I made the order of building Trinity College and it has one of the most beautiful libraries in the world. The atmosphere and long history attracted a lot of Chinese travelers.

Chinese tourists recognize alcohol as a significant part of Irish culture, and also have commented on the warm hospitality of the country. Guinness Storehouse is the must-see a place to experience the beer culture in Ireland. In the storehouse, you can see the beer brewing process.

Many visitors love the environment of nature in this country. Giant Causeway is one of the most famous destinations in here. The stone steps were all built by nature which is unbelievable to many visitors.

Wild animals can be seen in Ireland, Chinese travelers are usually surprised when they see these animals.

Where do Chinese tourists eat in Dublin?

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

The Porterhouse has the most comments because it has a different kind of selections of beer.

MATT The Thresher is known for its oysters and chef in here makes very tasty seafood.

The luxury environment made this place very attractive to many travelers. In 2013 Michelle Obama and her daughters came here for food also made this place more famous.

The Netherlands: Amsterdam

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

• Van Gogh Museum is the top#1 recommended place in Amsterdam and his art pieces are very well known to most Chinese.
• The windmill is a representation of Netherlands, Zaandam Kogerveld (a town in the Netherlands) is the destination that people can experience the beauty of windmill.
• Chinese travelers like to visit The Netherlands during the blossom season of a tulip.
• For people who like to try new things, they would visit the red light zone and try marijuana in Amsterdam, which is illegal in China.

Most frequenters asked questions from Chinese travelers about Amsterdam

Top asked questions from Chinese travelers [Source: Daxue Consulting]

1. Different voluptuous life, the Red Light District

• Is it safe in the Red Light District?
• How to get there? When is the best time?

2. What will a girl experience if she walks alone in the Red Light District?

• Is it safe for girls?
• Are the “working girls” attractive?

3. Hans Brinker Hostel named itself as the worst hotel in the world, but its rooms are full of guests every day.

• Why it is the worst hotel?
• What does the worst room look like?

Where do Chinese tourists eat in Amsterdam?

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

The Seafood Bar and Omelegg have most comments on the list. As mentioned previously, Chinese travelers love to try seafood when they visit other countries, especially things like lobster and crab. One reason being, high-quality seafood is more expensive in China than in other countries.

The seafood bar has a very large size seafood plate, and the secret ingredient makes it very special.

Where do Chinese travelers stay in Amsterdam?

Like any other places, Chinese travelers are still like to stay in chain-operated hotel brands.

Belgium：Brussels

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

Manneken Pis and Grand Place are two historic sites that most travelers visit.

Hugo, a used to say that Grand Place is the most beautiful plaza in the world and people who visited here also had the same feeling. The Gothic building style is very unique to Chinese travelers.

Chocolate in Belgium is very famous and many Chinese would like to buy it as a gift to give to their friends or family.

Where do Chinese tourists eat in Brussels?

Chez Leon and “LA MER DU NORD BRUXELLES” are the most famous seafood restaurants.

Where do Chinese travelers stay in Brussels?

Hilton still has the highest comments and rating on C-trip.

Luxembourg

Most Chinese tourists use one to two days to visit Luxembourg and usually book the travel package with The Netherlands and Belgium.

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

Alzette Valley and Adolphe Bridge are the top two destinations in Luxembourg. People perceive Luxembourg as a perfect combination of nature conservation and urbanization.

Greece: Santorini

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

Athens and Santorini are the top two destinations in Greece. Athens has a lot of ancient sites that have thousands of year’s history. Top destinations recommended by C-trip are all these old monuments. People are able to get a better understanding of history when they travel to Athens. As its getting very popular in recent years, Santorini is a romantic city that attracts a lot of Chinese travelers. Some of the famous hotels need to be reserved for a 2-3 month in advance.

The color of Santorini is all white and because it is surrounded by the sea, it is very hard to see any other city like this around the world. The combination of ocean and buildings makes this city a dream place of the honeymoon for Chinese couples. Many people take wedding photos in Santorini as well.

Where do Chinese travelers stay in Santorini?

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

• Top recommended hotel in Santorini all has a very good view and people prioritize the view as the most important influencing factor of choosing the hotel.
• It is very expensive to stay in a hotel with a good view and mostly the higher the floor is the higher price you pay. The price varies a lot if you want to choose a higher floor.

Italy: Rome, Venice, Milan

When talking about Italy, most Chinese would have few words in mind, Italian food, Venice, Milan fashion week, old buildings and churches.

Colosseum is a must-see destination in Rome. Thousands of years’ history makes here very unique to most travelers. People recommended to go inside to experience the majesty of Colosseum and it is very different compared to looking at it from outside. Many people choose to visit Plaza de Espana because of the movie Roman Holiday. However, Chinese travelers compliment safety in Rome.

For travelers interested in art and literature, Florence is the must go city that can experience history and the development after the renaissance.

Most frequenters asked questions from Chinese travelers about Italy

Top asking questions from Chinese travelers [Source: Daxue Consulting]

1. What’s the best one-day travel plan to experience Venice?

14 euros can buy a ferry ticket that works in 12 hours. First, take the no.1 boat/no.82 boat from S.Lucia to Piazza San Marco, approximately it will take 20 minutes. After, take LN boat from S.Zaccaria to Lido Island.

2. What is the itinerary of visiting Vatican museum and Saint Peter’s Basilica?

Vatican museum is one of the three great museums in Europe. However, I realized, I didn’t have strong feelings about that when I visited the first few exhibition halls.

3. What are Rome’s famous historic buildings that I must see?

Where do Chinese travelers eat in Italy?

[Source: Daxue Consulting]

Recommended restaurants in Ma Fengwo

Italian food is popular worldwide. Restaurants on the list above all have a very long history and well-known reputations. All the websites listed T-bone steak, Italian ice cream, pizza and pasta as top recommended food in Italy, and a lot of Chinese views this information online and choose the highest ranked restaurant.

Related Reading:

Chinese tourists choose the US for travel

Chinese tourists choose Eastern Europe for travel

Author: Changjun Tong

Our report on Chinese travellers:

Daxue Consulting helps you get the best of the Chinese market

Do not hesitate to reach out to our project managers at dx@daxueconsulting.com to get all answers to your questions.

This article Where do Chinese tourists travel, eat and stay while in South-West Europe? | Daxue Consulting is the first one to appear on Daxue Consulting - Market Research China.

The difference of search volume between the time the French president Macron visiting China in January 2018 and the protest beginning from November 2018 to date

This Baidu Index (百度指数, an index that reflects the total number of searches on China’s leading search engine Baidu based on keywords) evolution graph shows the evolution of the search volume concerning the French riots from November 2018, illustrating the search for France, France’s riots and Macron reaching their individual peaks on Dec.5. Compared with Macron visiting China from January 8th to 10th, however, the search for Macron at that time has more than twice volume as it for the French riots. Still, it is worth noticing that for the unrest in the country, France as a keyword gains far more attention-beyond four times than Macron in terms of the search index. In this case, Baidu Index trend line reflects the downturn of the popularity of Macron for Chinese netizens even though the revolution happening in Paris closely related with the France president.

Search behaviors for France and Macron from 19^th to 25^th November 2018

Concerning the Baidu Index’s related keyword analysis, a large part of words associated with French riots is not closely correlated to this event itself.

Graph of “France” and related keywords from 19 to 25 November 2018

In the first circle, strongly related words are “England”, “Germany”, “Fashion”, “American”. No associated words with France’s riots, yet it is important to notify that fashion is always the thing Chinese interested in France.Graph of “France” and related keywords from 19 to 25 November 2018.

Graph of “Macron” and related keywords from 19 to 25 November 2018

The focus on Macron online is still surrounding his visit to China, his wife, his UN speech, his neighbor’s leader-Merkel. It seems that Chinese netizens did not relate the riots to Macron.

WeChat Index (微信指数)

The WeChat Index reflects the search trend on WeChat-mostly used social media in China

Keywords “Yellow vest” and “French riots” reached peaks individually on December 3rd and December 5th respectively, which means “Yellow vest” firstly becoming a hottest topic to describe this event and then “French riots” coming next perhaps due to the conflict escalation more and more Chinese news media putting attention on it.

Weibo(微博)

Numbers of articles concerning French riots in Weibo within a half month

As for discussion in the form of articles on Weibo from November 17th to December 11th, 2018, Macron got the most attention in terms of quantities. 176 articles include “Macron” in the titles of articles, compared with less than half of them regarding “yellow vest” and further less for “French riots”.

Based on the analysis, main search engines in China reflect relatively large amounts of search than ordinary times, but far below the period of time when Macron visited China in January 2018. Realistically, Chinese do not attach much importance to the events happening away from their home, moreover, the effects of such events are unclear to them.

Images are shown on the Baidu Image by searching the keyword “French riots”

In the first page of search results, street pictures about riots in France show chaos and smog in this violent event, that is how Chinese internet presents such events.

These two pictures can be seen in many China’s popular press releases, aiming to illustrate how violent and furious this time the French rebellion is.

How does the Chinese government respond to the riots in France?

Two consecutive warnings published on the website of the Chinese embassy in France, November 30 and December 7 respectively; constantly focus on the situation going on in Paris. It gives the recommendation that people in Paris should be careful of any incidents around the violent area because of the “Yellow Vest” protest. The French police number and the embassy number are provided in case any help is needed.

Reports and comments from public accounts on WeChat

The article titled as “The most significant turmoil in the last 50 years: Musée du Louvre and Arc de Triomphe morphed into battleground full of smoke and blaze”. The reading volume of this article is over 50k. It analyzes the trigger and motivation of the demonstration, concluding that increase of the fuel price is only the cause, whereas the root cause is constant economic recession which leads to consumption capacity of French low-income group decreases along with life burden driving up.

One key opinion leader-Shuipi (水皮, a famous analyst in China, 6 million followers on Weibo) on WeChat also comments on the violent protests.

“Macron himself should be very clear that the reason for the violent protests is because the combined effect exerted by both global situation and domestic situation of France. The vanity of Macron’s government, due to Paris’s Agreement, forces the use of new energy as well as raises fuel taxes, and in the conditions of a sharp decrease of the gasoline price globally, the price in France increases rather than decreases as other countries. In addition to fuel taxes, the French government makes a deduction on taxes as Trump does in America, leading to pouring oil on the fire, further contradictions between upper and working class.”

 The hottest 3 comments on this article express different opinions, the first one of which says: “We hope related countries should protect people from hurt and in the meantime, listening to people’s voice, avoiding the situation getting worsened”. The second one says: “European countries sometimes are gentlemen but sometimes are beasts”. The third one is being sarcastic.

As for scanning through discussions on WeChat, the analysis of the riots in France is relative deep inside the event. Even though sarcastic comments exist which is common for people talking about politics, Chinese netizens on WeChat more ration-inclined.

What do Chinese say in special-topic pages on various news apps?

This comment argues that the price of diesel has increased by 16% in 2018 and raising taxes as the government planned in 2019 propels the strikes further to violent protests. Also, it emphasizes the analysis of the details of occupations and living conditions of most protestors.

This account comments that this social turmoil is the critical moment for President Macron. Also, it argues that the pause of taxing is apparently not enough to tackle this situation.

This comment says: “Everyone wants to increase income, which is impossible since raising salary would cause inflation. It is a vicious circle leading to the protest as a result.

News apps are gaining much more attention in recent years in that people are more mobile-focused and get used to obtain information through them. Several news apps with significant traffic among others have “French riots”-special topic, a particular area for discussion since the beginning of the Yellow Vests movement. Some accounts focus on the facts of the protest, some criticize the western political system, some think for Macron to silence the protestors, some blame protestors for the violent actions, all of them from different perspectives, contributing to a comprehensive picture.

How do Chinese travel agencies react to the riots in France?

Mafengwo (马蜂窝)

Mafengwo 马蜂窝 – a Chinese travel platform providing various services for tourists – gave a warning on this event on December 8 when “Yellow vest” would hold another demonstration in Paris.

The warning says: “It seems like the unrest continuing to last for the following weekend. Mafengwo has the responsibility to warn people living or having a trip to France to be rational and not to hang out in the area of protests, to be careful as much as possible.”

Also, it exhibits the intense area in Paris right now and adds the comment that the eastern side of Paris is quite peaceful.

Ctrip (携程)

Ctrip comments: “Guiders in Paris have been told to enforce safety during trips and to adjust schedules according to the situation and projected risks if it’s necessary.”

Chinese travel agencies seem don’t put much attention on this, perhaps because the strikes in France is common in their points of view, or according to their message from European branches, the violent extent is under their alert line.

People actually living in Paris see what is happening there

 A freelance journalist living in Paris made an onsite interview directly with protesters on the street on December 8.

After spending a whole day on the Champs Elysees avenue, she argued that the protest was not as chaotic as most media reported, instead, the demonstration on that day is relatively ordered yet powerful one. The police did some necessary actions to keep protesters in Paris from intruding into deeper corners but not too much violence confrontation happened during the day. From her observation, both groups are relatively rational, and the situation is not beyond control.

This video on Weibo made by a Chinese person on December 11

She says: “I have been living in Paris for many years since I was a student. The protest in Paris is legal and common, but the intense extend like this may be the most violent one since I came here.” Also, she gave her warning to students in Paris not to attend such rise ups.

Given Chinese students overseas likely watching videos on YouTube very often, there is actually an over 10k-watched video on this platform made by a Chinese girl and her French boyfriend (only 187 followers actually, but this video gains popularity).

In this video, the couple analyzes the event from their own experiences and compares it with previous ones. They even dug into the group psychological level and anticipated the situation would rage on in the following weeks.

A big picture of riots in France

France has gained the attention of Chinese media as well as Chinese netizens due to French riots, however, far less than the starting of the year when Macron’s official visit to China. From research on the reports and comments from Weibo, WeChat, news apps, online travel platforms and videos concerning this event, Chinese who live in China emphasize on a broader analysis rather than practical aspects, whereas Chinese who live in France pay much attention to the safety of daily life, travel, and the impacts of the riots. To be specific, people living in Paris don’t believe that the real situation of demonstration is as intense and violent as reported by Chinese online media.

Author: Will Qian

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