- China is expanding its tax base to include personal income tax, which
accounts for only 6.5% of total government revenues. In contrast, 45% of U.S.
government income comes from personal income tax. Only 30% of all workers
with annual income of over 2400 RMB (about $340 USD) need to pay tax.
- Between 1992 and 2002, 60 million Chinese became obese, according to
China's first official nutrition and health survey. About 23% of Chinese are
considered to be overweight. In comparison, 65% Americans are
overweight and about 1/3 are obese. It seems like the Chinese still have a
long way to catch up with the Americans! Well, like it matters, KFC opened up
its first store in China in 1987 and now has over 1300 stores; McDonald’s
opened up in 1990 and has 600 stores now. They have 4200 and 13000
restaurants in the United States respectively.
- Proctor & Gamble is the largest foreign consumer products company in
China. Its Safeguard soap has 41% market share, Tide and Ariel account for
33% of market, and Rejoice, Pantene, Head & Shoulders, and Sassoon
combined take over 60% of all shampoo sales in China. Since 1988, this
Cincinnati based consumer giant has seen explosive growth in China, taking in
$2.5 billion USD sales in 2006. Only 1/3 of its sales come from 24 largest cities
in China; the rest comes from mid-sized cities and rural areas.
- How much do you have to make to be a “white collar” in China? According
to the official Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, it depends on where you
live. In Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, and Beijing, you need to make at
least 5,000 RMB (or about $700 USD) per month to be a white collar. In major
provincial capitals like Guangzhou, Suzhou, and Xiamen, about $600 USD. If
you are not making this much, don’t worry, you can still be a white collar and
live a comfortable life in…Lhasa, the capital of Tibet! A little more than $120
would do just fine!
- Cultural differences! Yang Liu, a Chinese native who lives and works in
Germany, interprets the differences between East and West from her
designer's eye. Her exhibitions have received rave reviews. She observes that
Chinese rode bicycles in the 70s while prefer driving cars now; Germans, on
the other hand, drove cars in the 70s and prefer riding bicycles now. Chinese
talk loudly in restaurants while Germans prefer a quiet dining environment.
Chinese managers think they are way above their colleagues while German
counterparts think everyone is pretty much equal. Chinese also step around
the problems while Germans confront them. Download the file and see for
yourself how much you think you notice such differences.
- Over 100 cities in China ave more than 1 million population. In contrast,
the U.S. has only 9. The largely urbanized population means that American
products are able to penetrate the Chinese market more easily!
- China has 3,240 TV stations, of which 209 are operated by China central TV,
39 are provincial and 3,000 are local city stations. All TV stations are owned
and run by governments. By contrast, the U.S. has over 21,000 mostly
commercial stations.
- China has the most cell phone users in the world, claiming over 430 million
cell phones in 2006. The U.S. is about half of that, with 230 million phones in
2006. It's no wonder that most cell phones we use are made in China.