In “Headlines from China,” we share the biggest news stories about the luxury industry in China that have yet to make it into the English language. In this week’s edition, we discuss:
Nike launches Chinese version of their App
Zegna: report shows Chinese consumers are most open-minded about masculinity;
Hurun: there are over 33.2 million middle-class households in China
The American sportswear brand, Nike, announced on Tuesday that users can now download the Chinese version of the Nike App from the iOS and Android app stores. The Nike App Chinese version is Nike's one-stop shop, which aims to provide members with a personalized, immersive experience, and to inspire every Chinese consumer to live a fitness lifestyle. Dong Wei, Nike’s global vice president and general manager of Greater China, said that China’s consumer market is huge and digital consumption is very developed. Through the Chinese version of the Nike App, consumers can use Alipay and WeChat Pay to make quick payments. They can also login via WeChat ID and share it on social platforms.
On November 19, the Italian high-end menswear brand, Zegna, released a report on the contemporary impression of masculinity. Partnered with consultancy institution, Kantar, the report, which took part in five cities — London, New York, Los Angeles, Beijing and Shanghai — showed that 71% of male respondents globally said that male traits have changed positively, and traditional stereotypes of masculinity has shifted, including Chinese interviewees who are now more open-minded about the topic of masculinity.
In China, 62% of respondents said that they would “actively discuss male traits” compared with only 25% in the UK and 28% in the United States. However, while at work , more than half of the male respondents globally said that they had to present a masculine image, including 89% of Chinese male respondents. Additionally, 61% of the male respondents in China stated that “women can accept higher salaries than them,” compared with 45% and 49% of male respondents in the UK and the United States.
According to the 2019 Hurun Wealth Report released by the Hurun Research Institute on November 19, as of August 2018, there are 33.2 million middle-class households in China, including more than 10 million new middle-income families, with Beijing having the most, followed by Shanghai. The number of middle-class families in Beijing, Guangdong, and Shanghai together account for 50% of the country’s total middle-class families (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan). By region, the middle-class families in East China are the largest, accounting for more than 40% of the country, with 14.89 million households.