China will open its doors to the world’s advertisers by 2005, says a Chinese government official. This will provide Canadian companies with better access to Chinese markets.

I’ve been watching the Chinese market since I developed a set of “Exporting to Asia” factsheets for Agriculture Canada in the mid-1990s. I initially created the factsheets after noticing stacks and stacks of unused research reports at the regional Agriculture Canada office. The factsheets have since been expanded to other regions of the world, although I’m pleased to see that they’ve been updated, as the China agri-food factsheet* indicates. (I note that they’ve introduced some typos, too.)

China was more of a test market when I was researching and writing the reports — today, it’s a member of the World Trade Organization and many trade barriers have been lifted. And, far from being a market for just agri-foods, China now offers opportunities for a wide range of products. Given that the US and Canadian markets combined represent just 5% of the world’s population, companies should consider growing through exports and marketing in China, where 19% of the world’s population lives.

(c) 2004 by Andrea Coutu. Vancouver Marketing Consultant. All rights reserved.

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