British Brands in China

1.2 British brands in China

Being one of the most robust emerging markets, China has attracted investments all over the world for decades since the beginning of its open and reform policy (Melewar, T.C., et al., 2004). After China was accepted by WTO (world trade organization) in 2001(Leïla, 2009), more and more foreign brands have been introduced into Chinese market, among which British brands are no exceptions. These brands of different categories are experiencing the fierce competitions in China, some of them are expanding business quite smoothly while many others are struggling grabbing the market share they have achieved, some losers have to quit the game in the end. Here are some typical brands running not bad in China:

Tesco: which entered the Chinese market in 2004 - currently operates 96 supermarkets and 12 express stores across China, with its operations mainly centred in Shanghai. But with the newly opening of a 240,000 square meter logistics centre in the nearby eastern coastal province of Zhejiang, the company hopes to start expanding throughout the country (The Independent. 2011).

Burberry: China is the first market chosen by Burberry to launch the digital retail mode. This luxury fashion house has opened 57 retail stores in Mainland China. The CEO, Angela Ahrendts said that China has now become Burberry's fastest-growing market, and it is poised to become the company's biggest market within the next five years (Laurie Burkitt, 2011).

Costa: Costa is Britain's largest and the world's fifth largest coffee house chain. It revealed its plans to open more than 300 stores in China in 2006. Today the Costa classic icons are ubiquitous in some developed areas of China i.e., Beijing, Shanghai, etc. the brand is still a ...

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Being disagreed on many issues though, China is a key strategic partner for the UK. (British Embassy Beijing, 2010) Certainly Britain should not let go the huge opportunities in China just as UK prime minister David Cameron said while visiting China in November last year, "banging the drum for trade" was key to UK foreign policy. Mr. Cameron promised "closer engagement" with China, he was not satisfied with the fact that British goods currently accounted for only 2% of China's imports. (BBC News, 2010)

1.4 Objectives of this study

The following objectives are provided to state the direction of the research.

To explore Chinese Consumers’ perceptions about British brands.

To figure out the cultural elements which lead to those perceptions.

To conclude some recommendations to the British firms who are intended to expand business into China.