Following the yuan

1 week ago | chineseconsumers.news | Yaling Jiang

Key takeawaysTrend narratives that hook early adopters can differ significantly from those that appeal to the mass market. (In this case, it’s the difference between a villain and a cute bear that smells like strawberry.)The power behind the central, top-down push of a trend is often ignored in trend analysis. However, it could be a key driver of mass adoption in China. China research tips: beware of your bias, question the sources, keep reframing your questions and angles.

2 weeks ago | chineseconsumers.news | Yaling Jiang

Last weekend, I had a full “China day”—starting out at YCW-KCL’s China conference, speaking about the economy, and in the evening, we hung out with and went to the UK premiere of Lou Ye’s film about COVID. Huge thanks to YCW for organizing the event! I also want to put it out there that I’d love to speak at more events in Europe this year.

3 weeks ago | chineseconsumers.news | Yaling Jiang

This Saturday, I’m going to be at King’s College London for the 8th Young China Watchers-King’s College London China Conference. I will be joining Rory Green, the chief China economist at TS Lombard Research Partners, and Andrew People, the News Editor at The Wire China on the discussion “Is China’s 5% GDP growth target still in reach?” I’m especially keen to bring up the idea of alternative metrics for institutions like the IMF and World Bank.

1 month ago | chineseconsumers.news | Yaling Jiang

Editor’s note: Welcome to “China color” — a column that records Chinese people’s unfiltered, original voices and my field trips. Often, I find there isn’t enough color and perspective from Chinese consumers in English — the distinctive details, thoughts and emotions that reflect the complexity of life in China. This past week, while news headlines are dominated by US and China’s reactions to each other’s seemingly never-ending tariff announcements, the humans are overlooked.

1 month ago | chineseconsumers.news | Yaling Jiang

Trumpā€™s tariffs shocked my home city in the Yangtze River Delta region, one of whose most important economic pillars is import and export. On April 2, the day the White House announced it, I happen to have dinner plans two school friends in the export business. One friendā€™s family business specializes in auto parts. Heā€™s not worried at all and said the American clients were willing to absorb the additional cost.