China, Commerce

Speaking about economic life in China, it gives me an opportunity to continue the last thread, shifting to the economic aspects of the one child policy.

Things are improving rapidly in terms of China's economic life. Statistics bear this out. Year after year, China's economic growth has dwarfed the rest of the world and slowly but steadily that growth is translating into improvements in the living standards of the Chinese people. The newspapers have reports of increases in minimum wages. Business people complained of rising labor costs and the difficulties of retaining their workers. Wandering around town and visiting Chinese homes, so much of what we saw looked new. Chinese people are starting to have the means to consume and they are beginning to consume.

I think that this is where you can connect to the reality created by the one child policy. The focus of a good deal of that new consumption seems to be on China's youth. In observing how people dress, it was not unusual at all to see older people still sporting what I would call Mao era dress. The young people would have looked at home in Europe or our Bay Area.

Now, some of the styles that they were wearing may have been fake, but I don't think that changes the dynamic.  

You wear fake Ralph Lauren because you can't afford the real stuff - but the reason you are wearing it in the first place is because you want the real stuff. China's youth is developing a taste for high-end consumer goods. Those goods, both real and fake are widely available not just in the big cities Beijing and Shanghai but in smaller or remote places like Guilin, as well.

A new generation, reared on indulgence and access to world brands, is coming-of-age in China. The marketing of those brands is not just about selling a shirt - rather a lifestyle. Today the kids want the shirt. Can China’s conservative political leaders keep them from one day demanding the lifestyle that goes with it? I don't think so. Princesses usually get what they want. For better or worse I think China becomes more like us every day.