Shanghai’s economy made further progress last month as a result of continued strong growth in local consumer spending and investment, while exports also improved to help strengthen a growing recovery [...]

TV screens in China last year were bombarded with “mainstream” or tribute-style political and patriotic TV series. Unlike most previously released mainstream TV, which lost ground to popular overseas and commercially-produced local series, last year’s shows have attracted a substantial number of viewers due to their diverse and interesting content, modern production techniques and more natural acting approach [...]

When Rob Belgiovane set out from his Australian agency for the China Ad Festival in Nanning, he expected to fly into a small town near the Vietnamese border. Instead, he found himself in a city the size of New York that remains largely unknown to Westerners. And the sprawling metropolis was a dramatic example of the wide open market for retailers and agencies that China has become/ Ad Age Asia Editor Normandy Madden was on hand to record Belgiovane’;s startled impressions of the world’s new wild west of advertising [...]

China’s only national TV broadcaster, China Central Television (CCTV), held its annual auction on Nov. 18 for ad spots during 2010 prime-time programming as well as title sponsorships for key programs such as CCTV’s Chinese New Year gala, nightly weather reports and special events like World Cup coverage [...]

China announced a 5.7 percent increase in electricity prices for businesses and industries and said it will adjust residential tariffs early next year through a new pricing mechanism to promote energy savings [...]

As of the end of August 2009, 181 million Chinese netizens were using mobile phones as wireless Internet access terminals and this number is steadily increasing, according to a report jointly issued by China Internet Network Information Center and CR-Nielsen [...]

Annual disposable income for residents in Shanghai during the first three quarters of this year reached 21,871 yuan (US$3,200) per person, which is 8 percent more than last year, according to latest figures from the Shanghai Statistics Bureau [...]

China’s luxury market maintains a growth rate of 20%-30% annually, ranking first in the world. World Luxury Association said that China’s luxury consumption in 2007 (jewelry, dress, leather goods, perfume, excluding private plane and yacht) reached US$8 billion, taking up 18% of the global total. In the luxury market, dress takes up 32% of the total value, perfume and cosmetics 23%, watch and jewelry 20%, ornaments and accessories 19%, home 3% and dinning table decorations 3%…

In 2007, China’s total tourism revenue reached 1,09 trillion yuan (over 148 million US dollars), exceeding one trillion yuan for the first time. China now has one of the largest tourism markets in the world, said Wang Zhifa, deputy director of Chinese National Tourism Administration.

According to the latest report of CCID Consulting, in the first half of 2008, China’s MP3 player market realized sales of about 2.5 million MP3 players and revenue of CNY1.223 billion (nearly 180 million US dollars), year-on-year decreases of 43.76% and 43.56%, respectively. Li Ying, a consultant from the consumer electronics industry research center of CCID Consulting, says that as the MP3 player markets in big Chinese cities are close to saturation, a negative growth began to appear in its sales in the first six months of 2008…