Story sourced from Thomson Reuters
Professor Qing Wang of Warwick Business School (WBS) met the Vice Premier of China, Mr Wang Qishan, along with the Governor of the Bank of China Mr Zhou Xiaochuan, at a small-round table meeting in Oxford in early September. The Chinese government officials were visiting the UK to discuss the growth of renminbi trading in London. As an expert in marketing, and Director of the Marketing, Innovation and the Chinese Economy Network (MICE) at Warwick, Professor Wang’s contribution to the round-table discussion in Oxford was related to the challenges that China faces in stimulating domestic demand and consumption with more value-added products and services (including investment products).
As a fast-growing emerging economy, China’s domestic consumption contributes only about 35 per cent of the country’s total GDP, lagging behind some other emerging economies such as India where the figure is around 57 per cent. The expansion of China’s domestic demand and consumption is an urgent agenda for the Chinese government especially under the current economic climate. It is essential for sustaining the country’s economic growth, reducing its reliance on export, hence allowing the gradual but substantial upward movement of the renminbi against the U.S. dollar.