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Brief Consumer Economics & Policy

China’s retail sales miss forecasts for Q1

Consumption slowed in China at the end of the first quarter, reports Caixin. This comes as weaker income growth and a declining propensity to spend pointed to fragile domestic demand. Retail sales of consumer goods rose 1.7% year-on-year in March, missing the 2.2% average forecast in a Caixin survey and slowing from the first two months […]

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Brief Consumer Economics & Policy

AliExpress tells EU lawmakers it is improving goods control

Chinese online shopping site AliExpress said it was improving controls to comply with European Union regulations, reports Reuters. This comes as European lawmakers grilled executives over ​sales of dangerous and counterfeit products in the bloc. The EU ‌has ramped up scrutiny of fast-growing online platforms like AliExpress, Temu, and Shein which ship cheap products made in […]

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Brief Consumer

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com launches Joybuy to challenge Amazon

Chinese e‑commerce giant JD.com has launched its ​Joybuy online marketplace in the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium ‌and Luxembourg, reports Reuters. The move sees the company stepping up its push beyond its home market and taking aim at market leader Amazon. JD.com wants to internationalize its business and last year agreed to buy German electronics ​retailer Ceconomy, owner […]

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Brief Consumer Travel & Leisure

Chinese bubble tea chain Mixue plans theme park

Bubble tea producer Mixue is planning to build a theme park at its headquarters in Zhengzhou, the capital of central China’s Henan province, reports the South China Morning Post. The park will be based on its Snow King mascot, a singing snowman that has become one of Chinese retailing’s most recognisable intellectual properties (IPs), and offer […]

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Brief Consumer

US clothing brand Guess to cease China business

US fashion brand Guess has told customers it will close all its stores in mainland China by the end of March, reports the South China Morning Post. The move comes as analysts cite weak localization and strategy gaps. In late February, Guess informed customers via text messages that it would close all its online and offline […]