McKinsey and Nielsen N.V. are bullish on Chinese economy

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04:14

Global big names have gathered in Davos and shared their insights on China's economic outlook during a session on Thursday. Despite of some pessimistic views that China's economy will slow further and sharply, Nielsen N.V. and McKinsey are bullish on Chinese economy.

State data shows that the Chinese economy grew at 6.6 percent in 2018. Oliver Tonby, Chairman in Asia of McKinsey, is positive on the figure.

“China is growing, and 6.6 percent is very significant growth for a large country. There is a huge amount of growth happening, and very exciting changes. That is very positive,” he said.

02:54

David Kenny, CEO of Nielsen N.V., shared a similar opinion, saying that “I believe essentially, a strong China is very important to a strong world.” Meanwhile, he denied any consumption downgrade in China. From his perspective, Chinese consumers are spending more wisely than ever before.

“We are seeing Chinese consumers, as wealth rises and middle-class grows, absolutely are spending wisely. They prefer great food and great products,” Kenny told CGTN. But Kenny admitted that he is worried about the ongoing China-U.S. trade frictions, which might have a negative impact globally.

“I'm quite concerned about China-U.S. trade frictions actually. I spend a lot of time here in Davos working on multinational communication because it is not just China and U.S., what happens between China and U.S. affects Europe, affects Latin America and Japan for sure," Kenny said.

And Tonby elaborated another observation about China. "If you look back to the year of 2007, 17 percent of what China produced was exported, that is down to nine percent now."

“We see China is producing for China. We see more regional trade happening than global trade. So all of these things are changing how leaders need to think about companies, need to organize manufacturing. Of course, it makes people nervous, because you know it means they need to change the company as well," Tonby said.

How to continue business in a country that is constantly changing with the trade tension between two great powers as the backdrop? They advised companies to promise the qualities of products as well as change their strategies to correspond with trends in China.

“My advice for our Chinese clients is that just make sure you keep improving quality,” Kenny said. And Tonby suggested companies to change their strategies according to China's changes.