“The compelling problem”
“China’s demand for exports, tourism and leisure is outstripping supply.”
Restructuring China’s economy and the impact on exporting and tourism
To maintain its growth and to ensure prosperity and social stability China’s government has made a strategic decision to restructure China’s economy rapidly moving from a manufacturing to a consumer-based economy. In this new economy, delivering consumer products and services and leisure and tourism are critical.
China’s economy is growing at an unprecedented rate; when you multiply this rate by China’s 1.2 billion people you have tremendous growth and change. China’s 10.3 percent growth last year displaced Japan as the world's second largest economy.
Fueled by a growing middle class with an appetite for consumer products, and now, the money to pay for them, dynamic changes are taking place in the import/export industry. For example, China became the top importer of U.S. agriculture goods in 2010, surpassing all other nations for the first time in history.
In leisure and tourism, last year Chinese people made 1.9 billion trips within China. This year tourism trips are expected to grow by 12 percent to 2.1 billion trips. These trips within China will generate 1.1 trillion Yuan of spending, an increase of 14 per cent from last year's forecasts. Nationally, tourism has been designated as a growth area that must be supported.
In short, instead of an economy based upon manufacturing and exporting products to other countries, China’s focus has now changed to internal domestic consumption. Across the board, China's government is ramping up the demand for its citizens to buy and use consumer products. At the same time emphasizing stability and improving its citizen’s quality of life are cornerstones of China’s long-term plan. On the trade front, China has pledged to improve the balance of trade, which means importing more and exporting less.
