To give a general idea of what’s in the UMS’ bespoke China Daily Morning Brief, a daily email service focused on four industry categories – Education, Tourism, Food & Beverage, and Health & Skincare, I decided to write a summary of the Nov. insights our team published. The Morning Brief reports on the latest buzz on social media and what topics have been discussed most in China’s market. Providing a broad reference for four different industries: education, travel, food and beverage, and health and wellness, the publication enables brands to make proactive strategic decisions. Let’s take a look at some of the themes that were highlighted in November’s publications.
1. Education industry
The global pandemic outbreak has significantly impacted Chinese students who plan to study abroad. Due to the repeated outbreaks, many students have changed their original plans and suspended or abandoned their study abroad plans. However, under the Covid-19 pandemic situation, the number of Chinese interested in studying abroad is still growing. Among those originally scheduled to study overseas, 91% still insist on executing their study abroad plans.
Due to favourable vaccine rates, Australia is beginning to open its borders in phases. In Queensland, fully vaccinated international students will return in batches at the beginning of the following year (2022). 250 international students will return to Queensland every two weeks from January. NSW, Victoria, Queensland, the three major states for international students, have announced plans to return to Australia. Now it is up to who can implement it fastest.
The University of Melbourne has sent a message to overseas students who currently intend to study in 2022, seeking letters of intent for students to go to Melbourne through the International Student Back-to-School Programme. To provide some financial subsidies and alleviate the pressure caused by flight fees and quarantine fees, the University of Melbourne has set up a “Welcome Grant” for students struggling to return to Australia.
2. Travel industry
Although the Covid-19 epidemic is far from over, many countries have decided to open their borders to those who meet certain conditions. Due to pressure from the tourism industry, Thailand, Australia, Singapore and other countries have substantially relaxed international travel restrictions for the first time in 18 months. However, the “Omicron Strain” set off a wave of panic in the global capital market and produced high vigilance among governments of various countries, bringing the process of global liberalisation to an abrupt halt.
The New Zealand government announced on Thursday (28th) the new adjustment of quarantine time, reducing it from 14 to 7 days. Starting from January 2022, the New Zealand border will open in phases. From April, all fully vaccinated individuals will be able to travel to New Zealand.
After being isolated from the rest of the world for a year and a half, Australians can finally travel overseas again. However, the international travel policy looks very different from the past. The Australian border will gradually reopen from November 1, 2021, and travellers who can prove that they have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 will be able to enjoy a more relaxed immigration policy. Qantas said that international and domestic routes welcomed a booking boom, with 175,000 seats sold. Passengers have redeemed 4 billion points in two weeks, equivalent to 15,000 business class flights between Sydney and London.
3. Food and beverage industry
This year, the number of exhibitors and companies of the 4th China International Import Expo exceeded the previous one. More small and medium-sized enterprises participated in the exhibition, and cross-border e-commerce has become a new engine for global economic development. At the CIIE, the food and agricultural products exhibition area was one of the most popular exhibition areas with the largest number of exhibitors and the most attention. Among them, the dairy product area was vivacious.
Many New Zealand companies have participated in the CIIE for the fourth consecutive time this year. The China team of the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise actively helped New Zealand companies find partners and customers. On November 1, the launching ceremony of the New Zealand Silver Fern Farm Brand Week at the CIIE and the Silver Fern Farm pop-up event was held in Shanghai Bund Boutique Supermarket. Zespri, Dole, American Tyson Foods, and well-known fresh brands such as New Zealand Silver Fern Farm, Chia Tai Group, New Zealand Theland Dairy Products, etc., signed a contract value of more than 15 million US dollars.
Many Australian food and beverage and agricultural product exhibitors attended the exhibition, of which many are internationally renowned with a long history. This year is the fourth consecutive year that Austrade has supported Australian companies participating in the CIIE. It adheres to the digital strategy, iteratively upgrading the “online business docking platform” to help Australian companies connect with Chinese partners. Andrew Goody, general manager of the international department of Australian retail giant Woolworths Group, said that the China International Import Expo has helped the group enhance its brand awareness in the Chinese market.
4. Health & Wellbeing
Vida Glow, Australia’s leading oral beauty brand, has released Marine Collagen, which has quickly become famous worldwide due to its excellent quality and efficacy from Australia. It is reported that last year on Double Eleven, Vida Glow broke 100 million in 19 minutes, and this year it broke another 66 million in 3 minutes. Vida Glow is also popular on the VTN platform, which invites expert consultants in various fields to use online live broadcasts to answer members’ questions through shopping holidays.
Yili, Mengniu, Danone, Nestlé and other dairy companies brought hundreds of new products to the CIIE, including professional nutrition elements, a keyword in major dairy companies’ product competition. Yili will acquire a 34.33% stake in Ausnurtria Dairy. It will acquire Ausnutria’s shares through a wholly-owned subsidiary, Golden Harbor Holdings, through an agreement transfer subscription of new shares, triggering a general offer obligation.
New Zealand Geoskincare has launched an inexpensive sunscreen containing an affordable whitening lotion — the New Zealand Geoskincare Vitamin Whitening Lotion.It is a physical + chemical double sunscreen, protecting the skin layer by blocking ultraviolet rays, and combines natural buttermilk to help with “anti-ageing” effectively.
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