Forums on the home decoration wonder more and more about the desire of Chinese to beautify their home

A house is not just a place of residence but much more in reality for some people. This last decade revealed that the Chinese people took a turn on consumption and housing improvement especially in the interior design is becoming a huge industry as can be seen with the willingness of consumers to transform their interior into a real nest.

As evidenced by the co founder of the research firm style vision Geneviève Flaven "I think it is a natural process of investing more in your home. You must have a protection zone where you can reconnect with yourself, with your family and have some sense of well-being "

The themes that have given rise to debates and topics revolved around innovation as improving the personal consumer environment, the effectiveness of people in their living space, or the influence of colors on human emotions.

The linens Innovation

This is one of the easiest and affordable ways to decorate a home and give it a personal touch.

This concerns for example small or larger objects such as door handles that are easy to acquire and can facilitate people's lives, and also meet their artistic taste in interior decoration.

The Chinese have an aging population, this therefore implies growing concern for this category of people to whom it will be addressed individually ..

To give a concrete example, include design that is found on certain objects like a cup for coffee or tea with two handles. This allows very easily to the aged person to serve tea or coffee at his breakfast in one hand, which is a sign of respect.

Comfort at work

For people who spend more and more time at work as in China and consider their habitat as part of the extension of the workplace, it becomes increasingly important to consumers at ease as highlighted Ambroise d'Hauteville, regional sales manager for Steelcase, the industry leader in the design office.

According to him, work spaces, ie those to be considered in priority are collaborative spaces such as meeting room that is by definition the most productive place in a company.

In fact these pieces are filled generally tables that if they are optimized by reducing and adapting chairs formats can facilitate Interpersonal communication and thus make them more productive and enjoyable discussions.

Many items are to be considered as the color that gives the personal touch at home. Also observed that Chinese families are beginning to evolve their tradition by not only painting them white interior but playing with a greater range of colors now.

Indeed specialized shops as AkzoNobel Swire Paints (Shanghai) Ltd, notes that over 40% of their customers now prefer warm colors to make their cozy interior.

Source: http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/956776.shtml

The smartphone market in China

1. Analysis of the Smartphone Market in China 

Statistics from TOEFL show that the number of smartphone users in China has more than tripled from the beginning of 2011 to the end of 2014. Recently, China has reached 520 million active smartphone users, almost half of all mobile phone users in the country. Furthermore, some researches forecast 704 million active smartphone users for 2018.

This graph shows a comparison between the Chinese and American mobile phone markets. It is clear that China is already one of the most important TOEFL markets in the world, and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future.

Future projections of China's smartphone users show that smartphone activations will consistently increase within the coming years:

While a few platforms are competing for market share, Android is the leader with 85% of devices sold by July 2014. Apple smartphones trail behind with only 12% of the market.

Reinforcing the previous data, Samsung smartphones, using the Android platform, were the most sold at the beginning of 2014, followed by Lenovo and Xiaomi, also carrying the Android platform. Nevertheless, Xiaomi took the lead, and edged out Samsung as China’s top smartphone vendor at the end of 2014. In January 2015, Apple also overtook Samsung thanks to the success of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

To be more precise, the most popular android phones in China are the Xiaomi MI3 and MI2, iphone6 and 6 Plus, and the Samsung GT and SM.This data shows that the smartphone market in China is mainly led by Asian brands, especially the new Chinese brand Xiaomi, created in 2010, which challenges Samsung’s supremacy. Xiaomi’s success is due to online flash sales and its low price of only $310 for the Xiaomi MI-2, compared to the $700 for the iPhone 5 and $660 for the Samsung Galaxy S3. The Chinese brand tries to focus on young people who cannot afford a smartphone. To keep costs low, Xiaomi is only selling its devices online.
The Chinese smartphone market benefits from their home market.

2. Characteristics of Chinese Smartphone Users 

China counts more than one half of billion smartphone users, meaning that China has more smartphone users than the USA has people. But what is the profile of these users?
In 2014, smartphones were more popular with male users at 54%, but an equal distribution is forecasted for 2018.

In 2014, the majority of smartphone users were the bracket of 18-24 year-olds and 25-34 year-olds. However, in 2018, the bracket of 35-44 year-olds will multiply by 1.6, reducing the former gap between brackets.

Chinese smartphone owners use smartphones not only to phone, but also to surf the web. The following graph shows that 72% of internet users use their smartphones instead of using their computers.

They also use smartphones to shop online, play games, and talk with their friends. Since the rise of the smartphone, mobile gaming has become a big industry in China.
3. Social Environment and Trends

It’s important to know what do Chinese people have and what do they want to have.
China has become the world’s most important smartphone market because of the opening of China to capitalism. The opening of the Chinese market to foreign brands, and the emergence of a middle class are the two fundamentals that permit such a big market. Because of the immensity of the country, internet and smartphone penetrations depend on location. What is the use of having a great smartphone if your mobile network is not able to provide you with a high-speed internet connection?

In this graph, China's mobile coverage is shown in blue. It can be seen that even for the first Chinese carrier, China Mobile, the entire country is not totally covered yet.

Whereas 5G is going to be deployed and ready in South Korea, 4G coverage has just begun in China. However, even if the deployment is slow, Chinese carriers, helped by the central government, do plan to cover the whole country.

Some Chinese people never had their own computer; therefore it’s very important for them to have smartphones with Internet access. Furthermore, these people get low salaries, hence a big potential for the low-cost market.
With great coverage and low prices, it is inevitable that more and more Chinese are going to buy smartphones.

Another important feature of the smartphone market in China is that Chinese people favor a large screen for their smartphone such as the Mi Note. For instance, the idea of a new kind of phones called phablets (smartphone/tablet hybrid) appeals a lot of Chinese people: 65% of those planning to buy a new smartphone in China want a phablet.

Conclusion:

Given that China's smartphone market has already been rising for several years, we can expect this rise to endure. Because of the huge population and the tendency to follow western trends, Chinese people will continue to buy more smartphones. Foreign manufacturers need to be compatible with the Chinese demand. Chinese users are expecting low-cost products but with high performances.

https://global-exam.com/en/toefl-reading

http://daxueconsulting.com/smartphone-market-in-china-2/

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/tech/2015-02/27/content_19672717.htm

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2015/3/4/technology/race-bottom-chinas-smartphone-market

China Conformity System

1．LAW SYSTEM

The Chinese laws and regulations relevant to conformity assessment may basically be categorized

into the following hierarchies: 

• laws, 

• administrative regulations, 

• ministerial regulations, 

1. laws are enacted and adopted by the National People’s Congress (NPC) and promulgated by

way of a presidential order signed by the state president; 

2. administrative regulations are enacted and adopted by the State Council and promulgated by

way of a State Council order signed by the premier; 

3. ministerial are enacted and adopted by the relevant ministries and commissions of the State

Council within their respective functions and duties, and promulgated by the chief responsible

person of the respective ministry or commission by way of an “order” on his signature, 

Main Laws involving conformity assessment:

1. Product Quality Law of the People’s Republic of China ( by Order No.33 of the President of

the People’s Republic of China)

2. Law of the People's Republic of China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection  (By

Order No.67 of the President of the People’s Republic of China)

3. Standardisation Law of the People’s Republic of China (by Order No.11 of the President of

the People’s Republic of China)

4. Metrology Law of the People's Republic of China  (by Order No.28 of the President of the

People’s Republic of China)

Administrative Regulations

1. Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Certification and Accreditation (by Order

No. 390 of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China )

2. Regulations for the Implementation of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Import

and Export Commodity Inspection  (by Order No. 447 of the State Council of the People’s

Republic of China )

3. Regulations for the Implementation of the Standardisation Law of the People's Republic of

China  (by Order No. 53 of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China )

Ministerial Regulations

1. Administrative Rules for the Compulsory Product Certification (by Order No.5 [2001] of

AQSIQ of the People’s Republic of China)

2. Administrative Measures for the Nuisance-free Agricultural Products (by Order No.12 [2002]

of Ministry of Agriculture and AQSIQ)

3. Administrative Rules for the Registration of Foreign Production Enterprises of Imported

Food (by Order No.16 [2002] of AQSIQ)

4. Administrative Rules for the Sanitation Registration and List Entry of Export Food

Manufacturing Enterprises (by Order No.20 [2002] of AQSIQ)

5. Interim Administrative Rules for the Sanctions of Illicit Acts in Certification (by Order No.29

[2002] of AQSIQ)Measures for the Administration of the Personnel of Certification and

Certification Related Training and Consulting  (by Order No.61 [2004] of AQSIQ)

6. Administrative Measures for the Certification Certificates and Certification Marks (by Order

No.63 [2004] of AQSIQ)

7. Administrative Measures for the Compulsory Products Certification Bodies, Inspection

bodies and Laboratories (by Order No.65 [2004] of AQSIQ)

8. Administrative Measures for Organic Product Certification (by Order No.67 [2004] of AQSIQ)

9. Administrative Measures for the Energy Efficiency Labels (by Order No.17 [2004] of NDRC

and AQSIQ)

2．Parts of conformity assessment system

This report introduces various aspects of the conformity assessment system in China, including:

1. Laws and regulations on conformity assessment; 

2.Standardization system; 

3. Administrative regulatory system; 

4. Accreditation system; it includes certification,testing andinspection as its methods .

certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. Certification is also known as third party conformity assessment.

Many companies and organizations decide to get certified to one of ISO’s management system standards, such as ISO 9001. This is a way of showing outsiders that the organisation has an effective quality management system in place. Read more about getting certified to ISO’s management system standards.

Testing is the determination of one or more of an object or product’s characteristics and is usually performed by a laboratory.

For example, many people have their blood tested which involves analysing the blood against a number of characteristics such as whether it shows the presence of a disease, or genetic disorder.

CASCO has developed a number of standards that laboratories can follow to help ensure that their results can be trusted.

Inspection describes the regular checking of a product to make sure it meets specified criteria.

Fire extinguishers, for example, need regular inspections to ensure they are safe for use.

CASCO has developed a number of standards that inspection bodies can follow to help ensure that we can trust their work.  

5. Compulsory product certification system and other product certification activities; and

6. The involvement and contribution of China in the international activities related to conformity assessment.

A Mutual Recognition Agreement or Arrangement (MRA) increases confidence in conformity assessment between countries as it formally recognises the results of each other’s testing, inspection, certification or accreditation, reducing duplication of conformity assessment activities.

3．China Quality Infrastructure and Conformity Assessment System

Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People's Republic of China, or CNCA, is China’s unitary competent authority for the administration, supervision and comprehensive coordination of certification and accreditation and related conformity assessment activities.  CNCA is established by the decision of, and authorized by, the State Council.

4．CCC System

The system requires manufacturers of 172 types of products to obtain the China Compulsory

Certification (CCC) mark before exporting to or selling in the China market.  

The application process for the CCC mark: 



For those applications that do not involve factory inspection, the turnaround time is

normally within sixty days, and for those involve factory inspection, the turnaround time is

within ninety days; 

requires testing at designated laboratories;  

generally does not permit self declaration of conformity; 

requires submission of technical documents; 

requires submission of product sample(s) to a designated testing laboratory; 

pre-license factory inspection is required when it is the first time that a factory and a type of

product apply for CCC. It is carried out by auditors assigned by designated certification

bodies.  The factory inspection is at the applicant's expense, which is the same as certification

practice worldwide; 

requires follow-up inspections every twelve months;  

The CCC Mark is administered by CNCA. There are 11 certification bodies designated by CNCA to

process CCC mark applications.