Slowing Revenue. Our interviews with gaming employees in Macau suggests that the February holiday month over Chinese New Year delivered continuing declines
in line with poor results over the past six months. In most Chinese New Years, revenue rises 20% to 30% as mainland Chinese take advantage of the holiday period to travel to Macau. However, our interview group witnessed this increase halving to 5% to 10%. Some interview subjects suggested there has been a bottoming out in overall revenue but it’s probably too early to tell.

OCR conducted a survey of sixty consumers in six Chinese cities. We asked them what they liked or didn’t like about KFC and its competitors. Two-thirds of respondents have concerns about the safety of the chain’s food more than three months after the problems with its chicken suppliers came to light. A surprisingly large number felt KFC could improve the taste and price of its food. These issues could contribute to problems in China as Yum Brands tries to maintain KFC’s large market share. KFC Survey in China

Our latest survey asked a simple question: what are the hottest trends in your town? We posed this question to young people in eight cities across China. We purposely left the question open ended in order to solicit wide open opinions. The results varied from the expected (KFC) to the more obeat (cosmetics for men). The survey provides insight into the sentiment and cultural mores among Chinese youth. For investors, it also pro- vides window into the buying habits of the future middle class.

Consumer Trends in China (1)

CRC has completed a short survey of consumer expectations for the Chinese economy. The survey polled 120 residents in a cross-section of ten representative Chinese cities. We asked residents about a number of key economic issues, including the expected trend for inflation, GDP growth, property prices and un- employment. We conclude that there is a significant amount of concern about the future of the Chinese economy that could impact everything from property values to inflation expectations to purchasing deci- sions.

China Consumer Expectations

Grandma’s Mortgage
Who’s Paying for China’s Property Bubble?
CRC asked 132 property owners in China what was their source of capital for the real estate they acquired? In addition to personal savings, most buyers borrowed funds from a complex array of third party lenders. This reliance on “friends and family” and “other” sources of capital is a form of non-bank lending that is little understood and is a potential liability in the financial system.

Grandma’s Mortgage: Who’s Paying for China’s Property Bubble