China is of course the workshop of the world, on a scale perhaps never seen since Britain became the first country to industrialise. Every day, one encounters facts and statistics on the country’s scale of production which are just astounding. Did you know that Ningbo is by some measures the busiest port in the world, that Wuxi’s solar photovoltaic industry alone was worth 30.2bn RMB in 2008, that GDP in Binhai New Area (in Tianjin) is growing at 30% a year, or that one company in Zhuhai makes 20 million laptops a year? You can no doubt list of dozens of your own factoids. But while they illustrate the scale of China’s achievement in industrialising, from another perspective they show how far China has to go. Developed economies, of course, are less dependent on production than they are on design, marketing, sourcing, management and all those higher-end functions.  

An unfriendly model

Being the workshop to the world has left its mark on China; but perhaps this fits in with the “socialism with Chinese characteristics” viewpoint. In essence, China is a “productivist” society where power belongs to the producers, the manufacturers, the corporations and the staff, rather than the consumers. Anything that increases production is by definition good. You can see this outlook in a myriad of ways: patients must await the convenience of doctors and nurses in hospitals; banks are filled with people having to wait around for an hour to be seen; service staff are notoriously ill-mannered. To take a broader perspective, the Chinese attitude to the environment, and the effect of industry upon it, is often lax, to say the least; the attitude towards quality control is similarly lackadaisical; and institutional bureaucracy everywhere seems to act as a privileged self-interested caste, instead of working to assist others. In all cases, you get the sense that those working, jealously guard their prerogatives and that anything that gets in their way will be struck down. It’s the old top-down economic model, which has been stunningly successful – but it only gets you so far.

From producer to consumer

To continue its phenomenal rise, something must change. To rise in the value chain, as Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore did beforehand, China must develop from being a productivist society into a consumer society. What does this entail? Lots of things; it will be an enormous and profound change, not only of economic organisation, but of mindset. Disposable incomes will rise (whereas the percentage of GDP taken up by wages is actually falling). The enormous trade surplus will diminish, as Chinese companies cater to the increased spending power. Imports will rise. Chinese corporations will develop their own world class products – maybe Hisense will be the new Apple and 361 the new Nike – who knows?

But to facilitate this, the mindset must change. At the moment, the producers (in whatever field – education, health, transport, dining) seem to have the attitude: “You’ll take what we give you and like that.” A consumerist society obviously doesn’t work like that. When people have disposable money to spend, they can shop where they like, so producers have to cater to their desires. No longer will people accept shoddy workmanship or poor service. The economy will be driven, as it is in developed economies, by corporations investing a great deal into finding out exactly what consumers want and giving it to them. I have observed public services in Britain developing this consumer-first approach, and it has generally led to a great improvement in services. I’m sure some readers will remember the NHS, British Gas and British Rail in the 1970s – exactly the same productivist ethos held sway, and one had to meekly accept whatever service was given. But this attitude is no more, and services (if not prices) are generally far superior.

When the consumer ethos becomes embedded into Chinese society, we are likely to see similar vast improvements, not just in products but also in services. If the economy continues to develop as fast as it has, a fully-fledged consumer society will be here before we know it, and we’ll all look back with misty nostalgia at absurd queues at the train station and shop staff screaming “Wo bu zhidao!” at you.
 

Related links
Food Safety and Consumer Democracy: A Phenomenon on the Rise in China
China’s Next Five-Year Plan: 10 Things that Can be Improved
Rich Man, Poor Man: China’s Widening Wealth Gap

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Keywords: consumer society change China service standard China Consumer society China