(1888PressRelease)
September 16, 2007 - Interfax-China Commercial Research Unit indicates many young adult readers prefer foreign media brands
Young adults show strong preference for foreign print media brands
A preliminary Interfax-China Commercial Research Unit exploratory survey indicates that foreign print media brands appear to possess an inherent advantage among young adult Chinese consumers and are preferred over local media brands.
As one of the key research findings in the in-depth industry report, China Print Media Industry Review 2007, Interfax-China found that young adult Chinese consumers exhibit a strong preference for foreign magazine, newspaper, book and bookstore brands. While actual consumption of foreign materials is relatively small, localized versions of foreign brands are viewed in a preferable light.
To further explore this inherent brand advantage, our analysts conducted a focused exploratory survey among Chinese college students. Feedback indicated that foreign participants in the Chinese print media sector can readily take advantage of an inherent and clear advantage over local competitors.
In a case study, 83 percent of respondents stated that they believed that foreign-invested magazines are better than Chinese-published magazines. Furthermore, this advantage in public perception extends beyond magazines to also include newspapers, books and bookstores (details in the full report - China Print Media Review 2007).
The finding has very strong strategic implications for foreign companies competing within China's print media sector which, thanks to the World Trade Organization, is now largely open to foreign investment. Although it is not necessarily easy to navigate the required permits and licenses, with the notable exceptions of editorial and national-level distribution, almost all areas of print media are now largely accessible.
At present, these markets have attained significant scale and are attracting a great deal of interest from investors around the globe. The future potential of these markets can be more readily put into perspective when the following is considered:
As of 2007, China led the World Association of Newspapers global top 100 ranking with 25 Chinese newspapers topping the list by circulation volume.
The market for Chinese magazine readers alone is already 1.5 times the size of the entire population of the United States, as out of China's 1.3 billion people, 55.3 percent of literate people read magazines in 2005.
The clear potential of these markets has attracted a number of foreign entrants, despite the general lack of transparency. In an exclusive briefing with the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), Interfax-China learned that China has so far approved more than 30 publication trading companies and launched 51 copyright contracts with a number of countries such as France, the United Kingdom and the United States. As of January 23 of 2007, a total of 52 foreign-invested publication distribution projects have secured GAPP approval since China's accession into the WTO in 2001.
Although China's government has generally opened up the print media sector, all policy signs indicate that it will seek to maintain a very strong hold over the domestic news and information environment. As such, participation in editorial, especially content relating to social and political news, is still tightly controlled and technically off limits to any foreign involvement. Given this wish to influence the information environment, it remains very unlikely that activities in this area will become open to foreign participation for the foreseeable future.
Despite the explicit ban on involvement in editorial work, there are in fact a number of indirect methods of maintaining some level of control over content for foreign investors. However, it should be noted that the government is only likely to be tolerant of participation in this area if content is positive or largely neutral to political or social issues. For example, consumer products, business education and language education are all areas in which foreign investors currently participate quite successfully.
If content is inoffensive to the government, there are several approaches that have been successfully utilized. First, companies such as Cambridge, Oxford and Pearson-Prentice Hall have been able to launch whole series of educational materials that have been very successful in the market. For these products, entry was accomplished by partnering with a local Chinese publisher who printed and distributed the materials under their name.
However, despite the partnership, ultimate brand control was maintained by the foreign partner. In the realm of magazine publication other quasi-legal methods have been used quite successfully, but with some clear instances of failure for the foreign partner. Please see the full report for more details, or contact the Interfax-China Research Department to arrange an interview with the report editor. The contents pages of the full report are at included at the end of this document.
Learn More – Examine the full report
www.interfax.cn
CONTACT DETAILS FOR INTERFAX CHINA COMMERCIAL RESEARCH UNIT
Director of Research:
Email: Andrew ( @ ) Interfax dot cn Phone: (86) 021-6215-3987
Web: www.interfax.cn Fax: (86) 021-6212-4096
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