Sales of new robots remain on a high level with 373,000 units shipped globally in 2019. This is 12% less compared to 2018, but still, the 3rd highest sales volume ever recorded.

Japan ranks second with about 355,000 units, up 12%. India has a new record of about 26,300 units, an increase of 15%. Within five years, India has doubled the number of industrial robots operating in the country´s factories.

The share of newly installed robots in Asia was about two-thirds of global supply. Sales of almost 140,500 new robots in China is below the record years of 2018 and 2017 but still more than double the numbers sold five years ago (2014: 57,000 units).

IFR report also shows that the installations of top Asian markets slowed down – in China (down 9%) and Japan (down 10%).

In China, the broad majority of 71% of new robots was shipped in from foreign suppliers. Chinese manufacturers still mainly cater to the domestic market, where they gain increasing market shares.

Foreign suppliers deliver some 29% of their units to the automotive industry, while it is only around 12% for Chinese suppliers. Therefore, foreign suppliers are more affected by the decline of business in the Chinese automotive industry than domestic suppliers.

Top 15 Largest Markets by Total Installation of Industrial Robots in 2019

1. China: 140.5k
2. Japan: 49.9k
3. The United States: 33.3k
4. South Korea: 27.9k
5. Germany: 20.5k
6. Italy: 11.1k
7. France: 6.7k
8. Taiwan: 6.4k
9. Mexico: 4.6k
10. India: 4.3k
11. Spain: 3.8k
12. Canada: 3.6k
13. Thailand: 2.9k
14. Poland: 2.6k
15. Czech: 2.6k

CIW Subscribers (annual billing) can download the presentation here.

Chinese consumers’ confidence continued to rise in 2016 according to Mastercard Index of Consumer Confidence. The outlook in China (80.8, +4.8) continues to increase due to improvement across all five components, with Stock Market (+9.1) contributing the most to the increase.

Hong Kong saw more than 10 point improvements while Taiwan saw more than 10 point decreases.

India tops the index as the most optimistic market in Asia Pacific, followed by Myanmar, Vietnam, Philippines and Bangladesh. Overall, consumer confidence in Asia Pacific continues to hold steady, showing stability (within +/- 5 points from the last survey) in nine out of 17 markets.

Mastercard Index of Consumer Confidence Data – H2 2016

Related: Social, mobile the key driving forces of Chinese post-90s

China millennials, also known as Generation Y or post-80s and post-90s by Chinese marketers, account for 25% of the total population and 73% of outbound tourists in China according to GfK.

China had 109 million outbound tourists who spent a total amount of US$229 billion on shopping in 2015 according to GFK. The top five most popular travel destinations of Chinese travelers have been South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan since the beginning of 2016.

China “Millennials” focus on good outbound travel experience, which is both spiritual and material. 15% surveyed by GfK enjoy the experience on luxury travel, 33% on gourmet food, 37% on history and culture, 49% on nature, and 44% on adventure and excitement.

In the recent 15 years, the consumption value of Chinese consumers has tremendously changed. In travel, group travel enthusiasm waned, and the free and easy trips are becoming mainstream. China ‘Millennials’ desire to integrate into the global culture makes destinations with historical and cultural attractions more attractive. Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand are in the top positions while Hong Kong, who has rich resources of shopping, continues to lose Chinese tourists.

China millennials tend to book their free and easy trips in advance; so, marketing campaigns targeting specific holidays should launch one to two months in advance. Chinese tourists to Japan and Taiwan booked their trips one to two months in advance; those to South Korea one month according to GfK.

A total number of 220 million Chinese residents will travel overseas with a total spend of $450 billion in 2025, up from 120 million residents spending $250 billion in 2015 according to Goldman Sachs’ report.

Read more: China Luxury Hotel Users Insight

Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan were the top three inbound tourism sources in January 2016 according to China National Tourism Administration.

Also read: China Travel Market Overview for Q4 2015

China had 109 million outbound tourists who spent a total amount of US$229 billion on shopping in 2015 according to GFK. China was the largest outbound country in the world.

GFK’s survey showed that more than half of Chinese travelers were between 15 and 29 years old, 37% between 30 and 44 years old, and about a tenth between 45 and 59 years old.

The top five most popular travel destinations of Chinese travelers have been South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan since the beginning of 2016. Europe was also a popular outbound destination of Chinese tourists. Chinese travelers visiting Thailand, South Korea and Japan in November 2015 grew by an increase of 263%, 112% and 157% respectively.

Thailand, South Korea and Hong Kong were the most favored destinations among the post-85s and post-90s in China in 2015. Since 2014, a large number of Chinese tourists began to pay more attention to the cultural landscape and historical heritage of tourism destinations instead of convenient transportation and low travel cost. Travel for shopping was a new trend among Chinese outbound travelers.

Two-thirds of China post-85s and post-90s were high-income groups according to GFK and they will be expected to spend more on travel in the future. Understanding likes and dislikes of China’s travelers especially the post-85s and post-90s were essential for attracting these travelers.

Also read: China Travel Insights for Chinese New Year 2016

A total number of 220 million Chinese residents will travel overseas with a total spend of $450 billion in 2025 , up from 120 million residents spending $250 billion in 2015 according to Goldman Sachs’ report.

120 million Chinese tourists will travel overseas in 2015, with 70 million traveling to Hong Kong/Macau, around 5 million to Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, 12 million to ASEAN, and 2 million to the US; and, two thirds of current outbound travelers are millennials (15-35 years old), estimated by Goldman Sachs.

70 million Chinese travelers who visited Hong Kong and Macau in 2015, where it doesn’t require a passport but a permit to enter.

Only 4% people in China currently holds a passport and this figure are expected to reach 12% within 10 years. The number of travel-ready millennials who will graduate from Chinese universities in the next 10
will reach 74 million.

The number of Chinese residents who will visit Japan will reach 16 million in 2025, up from 5 million in 2015. The average cost of a package tour to Japan is $2,000, including money spent on shopping ($1,000). Korea, Australia and Europe are also expected to become tourist hot spots.

Also read: China Travel Market Overview for Q4 2015

As of 31 December 2015, the number of travel agencies in China reached 27,621 according to China National Tourism Administration.

The top ten inbound traveler regions by the total number of person trips are Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Macau, the U.S., Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Thailand and Russia.

China travel agencies organized a total number of 42.18 million person trips and received 45.29 million person trips in Q4 2015, an increase of 14.68% and 14.59% YoY.

Jiangsu (17%), Shanghai (9%), and Zhejiang (9%) are the top 3 travel destinations in China in Q4 2015.

Southeast Asia countries are among China’s most popular outbound tourism destinations, accounting for 27% of total person-trips in Q4 2015.

Also read: China Travel Insights for Chinese New Year 2016

The global duty-free market in 2015 is expected to reach US$59.8 billion, more than twice as much as it was 10 years ago according to BCG. The rise of low-cost carriers (LCC) has boosted overseas travel and increasing number of Chinese tourists has driven the rapid expansion of the Asian as well as the global market.

Over 100 million Chinese passengers traveled abroad last year and reached expenditure of US$165 billion, ranking first in the world and US$50 billion more than the United States according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

The total number of China’s tourists is estimated to exceed 4.1 billion person trips in 2015 and about 53.6% of Chinese outbound tourists take shopping as primary objectives of free and easy trips in 2015 according to research of Mafengwo and TouTiao.

King Power who is the largest duty-free groups in Thailand launched the duty-free shop project with Tmall this July. They plan to open sales outlets and call centers in China, hoping to attract more Chinese tourists in the future according to Japan Economic News. Over 90% of their customers are Chinese and a majority of their retailers can speak Chinese for better consumer experience.

Lotte (South Korea), EVERRICH (Taiwan), and King Power (Thailand) are the only three Asian duty-free shops among the world top 10.

Also read: China Retail V.S. Online Shopping 2015

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the number of global tourists grows 4% in the first 8 months of 2015. International tourists arrivals in Indonesia increased by 2.87%, and Chinese tourists to Indonesia grew by 20.74%.

According to the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism Policy Development and Research Institution, mainland Chinese travelers to Indonesia grew by 24.97% in August 2015, Egypt 25.51%, Singapore 23.28%, Taiwan  11.50% and the United Kingdom 16.68%.

In the first eight months in 2015, international tourists to Indonesia reached approximately 850,542 people, and the number of Chinese tourists visiting Indonesia reached 779,348, an increase of 20.74%. They entered Indonesia mainly via Bali International Airport, Soviet Union in Jakarta Gano – Hatta International Airport and Sumatra, Riau Batam international Airport.

Since 2012, China had been the largest outbound tourism market in the world for 3 consecutive years, and China will invest more in the tourism industry.

Also read: China Hotel Search Behavior Overview 2015

In recent years, with the penetration of online travel applications and improvement of people’s living standard, more and more people chose to travel on holidays. The total number of outbound and inbound tourists in China increased by 9.8% to 127 million in H1 2015 according to Mafengwo.cn.

Payment Method

Based on the research by Mafengwo, an online travel company, 43.2% of Chinese travelers preferred payment in advance while 56.8% preferred to pay at the hotel reception, considering the possible changes during travel and security problems of electronic payment.

Selection of Hotels

In the first half of 2015, Chinese tourists in general would choose a hotel after browsing 14 hotels at weekdays, more than 11 in 2014; and on weekends they would on average browse 18 hotels before selecting their favorite hotels, more than 13 in 2014. Apart from price and reviews, hotel style and comprehensive condition were core factors that would influence final decisions.

Pre-booking Days

Chinese domestic travelers on average booked hotels 12 days in advance, and booked outbound hotels 42 days before the trips, respectively an increase of 2 days and 5 days compared with 2014. PC users would reserve hotels earlier than uses in mobile end. PC orders would be made with an average of 32 days in advance, and the mobile orders with an average of 15 days in advance.

Refund Rate

72.02% of the hotel reservation cancelation were done by the female users, and only 27.98% by the male users.

Taiwan BnB

BnB (bed and breakfast) was one of the attractions of Taiwan. Taipei, with only 15.95% of total bookings in Taiwan, accounted for 63.96% BnB booking market. To attract more mainland tourists and increase the order of BnB, Taiwan needed to integrate resources further and strengthen the publicity and promotion.

Hot 5 Star Hotel Reservation Cities

In H1 2015, the top three cities that citizens preferred booking 5 star hotels were Hangzhou (a YoY increase of 287.67%), Fuzhou (226.67%), and Kunming (200%).

Hot Online Reservation Cities

Beijing was China’s most developed online hotel reservations city with one out of four booking hotels online. The top five cities that citizens preferred online booking were Beijing (23.96%), Shanghai (20.86%), Guangzhou (14.56%), Nanjing (7.51%), and Hangzhou (6.95%).

Hot 5 Star Hotels

The top 5 star hotels that Chinese tourists favored most were Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore, Pai Island Resort and Racha Hotel in Thailand, L’Hotel Nina et Convention Centre in Hongkong, and AYANA Resort and Spa in Indonesia.

Also read: China Travel Market to Reach $617.4B in 2015

In H1 2015, the total number of outbound and inbound tourists in China reached 127 million, with an increase of 9.8% year over year according to China Tourism Academy. The number of inbound tourists reached 65.1 million, with a YoY increase of 4.5%, which exceeded outbound tourism (61.9 million visitors) by 3.2 million. After several years of sluggish, China’s inbound tourism was beginning to show a momentum of steady recovery.

While in the past nine quarters, the number of inbound tourists showed a downward trend, which was in obvious contrast with the thriving outbound market. Statistics show that since 2012, the number of China inbound tourists kept declining, with the decrease rate of 2.5%, 2.2% and 0.45% respectively each year, while the increase rates of outbound tourists were 16.7%, 18% and 16% respectively.

The increase of China inbound market was influenced by the recovery of the market in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. In recent years, tourists from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan have always been the main source of tourists to the mainland, and the tourists number of the three regions was much higher than other foreign inbound tourists.

In 2014, nearly 130 million people came to China, among which Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan tourists in total accounted for 79.49%; and foreigners totaled 26,360,800 passengers. The top three inbound countries were South Korea, Japan, and the United States according to China Tourism Board.

To attract travelers from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan to the mainland, the tourism administration has made some efforts. From July 1, 2015, Taiwanese who hold a valid mainland entry permit could enjoy the visa-free policy.

Also read: China Tourists Travel Intention Study 2015

The Hurun Report recently published The Chinese Luxury Traveler 2015, for the fourth consecutive year. The report revealed the features of Chinese traveling enthusiasts, including their decision-making process, social media habit, travel trend, sales and gifting preference.

Here are top ten highlights from The Chinese Luxury Traveler 2015.

1. More foreign travels – average traveling expense for past year

More than 200,000 Chinese traveling enthusiasts traveled to different countries for four times and 33 days on average. For the data 33 days, leisure travels are increased by 10% to 20 days, business 13 days. Last year, the total population of off-boarder travelers were 116 million, up by 17.8%, on basis of China Tourism Academy.

2. Stronger presentation of traveling agencies – DIY travelers fewer than 30%

Traveling agencies processed approximately a half of total hotel bookings. China’s Top 12 Agencies for Mainland-based Luxurious Foreign Travels include 8 Continents, Wild China*, Diadema, HH Travel, My Tour, Magic Travel*, Ctrip, Sinbad Travel*, Zanadu, CITS, CTS and CYTS.

American Express performed best in areas of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Top 5 Agencies for Hong Kong-based Luxurious Foreign Travels include Wincastle Travel, Cathy Pacific Travel, American Express, Swire Travel and Westminster Travel.

Top 5 Agencies for Macaw-based Luxurious Foreign Travels are Macaw CYTS, Macaw CITS, Macaw CTS, Hong Thai Travel and American Express.

Top 5 Agencies for Taiwan-based Luxurious Foreign Travels are Asuka Travel, Royal Jetway Express, American Express, ITIS and Lion Travel.

Mr. Hu Run said, “the list is formed on basis of surveys on over 70 managers of luxury hotels globally, which performed by ILTM, GHC Asia famed for public relations in luxury travels in Asia, and Hurun. It’s the first time we created the lists of the most popular agencies in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan areas. “

3. Destinations

South Pole traveling is increasingly popular. According to the survey, the most impressive and frequently visited destination among all is South Pole. The main reason appeals to 49% travel enthusiasts is spectacular natural views, seconded by rare animals and vegetation, 19%, and travel surprise, 17%. Additionally, cruise tour is a hit last year. Maldives is particularly attractive to Chinese rich people, and Australia, the top destination for all the riches, second by France, without any surprise.

Great Britain and Italy are the two countries increasingly attracted to travelers, in sharp contrast with German and Swiss that see a drop in interested travelers. Moreover, exotic destinations like Hawaii and Dubai enjoy the popularity among rich people in recent two years, while Sanya and Tibet are of great appeal among all China attractions. For those traveling enthusiasts, they made traveling decisions on foreseeable creative experience. Furthermore, medical tour is a hot topic nowadays. 60% Chinese rich people have taken medical tours before.

Pros and Cons of Top 5 Destinations. Travelers usually visited United States of America for business and family purposes, and gave a low rating to food. Japan is the primary choice for shopping and earns the highest food rating. Both France and Great Britain attract a great number of travelers for shopping and business, while Great Britain rated higher than France in food. For Australia, it is the absolute right choice for leisure and holidays, in the meanwhile travelers rarely visited the country for business, food, family or shopping.

Also read: Understanding Chinese Luxury Travelers

Shoppers from China spent 18% more on Tax Free Shopping in 2014 compared to 2013 according to Global Blue.

Global Blue’s Top Ten Globe Shopper Nations in 2014 (growth vs. 2013)

1. China (+18%)
2. Russia (-17%)
3. USA (+8%)
4. Indonesia (-10%)
5. Japan (-12%)
6. Taiwan (+29%)
7. Hong Kong (+25%)
8. Thailand (-10%)
9. Saudi Arabia (+15%)
10. Kuwait (+18%)

China and Russia are by far the most lucrative countries of origin for globe shoppers, with Chinese globe shoppers now accounting for almost one third of all Tax Free Shopping spend followed by Russia (14%), United States (4%), Indonesia (3%) and Japan (2%).

Five of the top ten increased their Tax-Free Shopping spend by more than 15% in 2014 – Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Almost 50% of purchases were related to fashion and clothing, followed by the watches and jewellery at 17%. In 2014, the number of Chinese transactions increased by a significant 38% according to Global Blue.

Paris remains the most popular shopping city.

Find out more about China Online Travel Market 2014-2017 here.

Private-label share is 5% or less in markets such as China, India and Brazil according to a Nielsen survey and there does appear to be a ceiling for growth while in the most developed European store-brand markets, private-label share has remained around 45% for the past 10 years.

The Nielsen Global Survey of Private Label polled more than 30,000 Internet respondents in 60 countries to understand how consumer perceptions about private label quality, value, assortment and packaging translate into sales around the world.

Private label growth has been slow. Value share is highest in Singapore (8.1%), Hong Kong (5.1%), India (4.5%) and Taiwan (3.1%) and lowest in China (1.3%), Thailand (0.8%) and Indonesia (0.6%).

Also read: China Online Retail Market Grows 3 Times Faster Than Retail Market

The annual financial report of Alipay, part of Alibaba Group, showed that half of Alipay revenue came from Taobao. In the top 10 cities of per capita Alipay expenditure listed in the statement of account, four cities of Taiwan are included. Perhaps more surprising is that Taiwan’s Chiayi City climbs atop. The per capita Alipay expenditure of Chiayi is 180% of Hangzhou, where the headquarters of Alipay locates.

At the present stage, the volume of business transactions of Taiwan accounts for less than 1% of the total volume of Taobao. In 2012, Taobao officially set up an office in Taiwan. While on 11 November, 2012, the total sales volume of Taobao reached 19.1 billion yuan, which amounted to twenty times the daily volume of retail sales of Hong Kong. This indicated that Taobao has the ability to deal with 1205 orders in one second. This is almost four times the speed that Amazon.com made during the Christmas in 2012. Analysis suggests that there are 16.8 million netizens in Taiwan, as many as four times the that of Hongkong. 

Chen Yuqiao, the CMO of pgmall.com.tw, which is the largest lady bags manufacturer in Taiwan, said that Taobao will reshuffle the online shopping industry of Taiwan. Huang Wengui, the COO of mayuki.com.tw held nothing back when talked about Taobao. He said that Taobao is the best online shopping platform in the world and the second one is RaKuTen.

Half of the goods from Taobao shipped to Taiwan are taken on by Dong-Feng Express Company. The VP of this company roughly estimated that there are 10,000 packages shipped to Taiwan every day. That is, there are at least 3.65 million packages shipped to Taiwan every year via Taobao.

Taobao estimated that there will be 3 million Taiwan users after three years. At that time, one in seven Taiwanese can buy directly from Mainland through Taobao. This will have a impact on Taiwan’s roadside stalls, which have the same source of goods.

Consumer confidence also fell by one point last quarter in China from 105 to 104 according to third quarter global online consumer confidence findings from Nielsen, a leading global provider of insights and analytics into what consumers watch and buy.

According to the same Nielsen survey, Global online consumer confidence fell for the seventh consecutive quarter as confidence in 31 of 56 global markets measured declined. Top concerns of online consumers in Asia Pacific are economy, job security and work/life balance.

Asia Pacific continues to dominate the list of most optimistic countries with seven of the top 10 highest consumer confidence scores hailing from this region. India, despite a decline of five points, retains the top spot with an index of 121, followed by Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Brazil, Philippines, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, China, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

On the contrary, Taiwan scored only 87 points, down by two points.