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China Consumer Behavior

Living in China: “Thank you for Smoking”!

One out of every three cigarettes is lit in China, and respiratory disease is on the rise. Some are asking what the future of smoking will look like in China. US-China Today clears the haze […]

One out of every three cigarettes is lit in China, and respiratory disease is on the rise. Some are asking what the future of smoking will look like in China. US-China Today clears the haze:

China is the world’s heaviest smoker. The China National Tobacco Company (CNTC), a constituent of the government-run China State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, is the largest tobacco company in the world, and Chinese constitute one-third of all the world’s smokers. Also, the country’s tobacco industry accounts for about 8% of total government revenues, according to the World Bank, and health experts and global economists are curious: can the Chinese government kick the habit?

[…]Many analysts agree that the future of China’s tobacco industry is either “economics or health,” not both. And it seems that for now, the economy is winning, and the only warning most smokers will see is the feeble message on cigarette labels: “smoking is harmful to your health.”

By Itamar Medeiros

Originally from Brazil, Itamar Medeiros currently lives in Germany, where he works as VP of Design Strategy at SAP, where he leads the design vision for the entire Human Capital Management product line, ensuring cohesive product narratives and establishing best practices.

Working in the Information Technology industry since 1998, Itamar has helped truly global companies in multiple continents create great user experience through advocating Design and Innovation principles. Itamar has also served as a juror for prestigious design competitions and lectured on design topics at universities worldwide.

During his 7 years in China, he promoted the User Experience Design discipline as User Experience Manager at Autodesk and Local Coordinator of the Interaction Design Association (IxDA) in Shanghai.

Itamar holds a MA in Design Practice from Northumbria University (Newcastle, UK), for which he received a Distinction Award for his thesis Creating Innovative Design Software Solutions within Collaborative/Distributed Design Environments.

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