Christmas Day in China

In China now, there is less disappointment and curiosity over Christmas since it is not a traditional holiday, but that is not stopping businesses from cashing in on the season’s commercial potential. Grace Brown reports from Beijing.

Like many Western traditions, Christmas is catching on in China, but they do it a little differently. You are more likely to see a saxophone or a guitar playing Santa than the classic Nativity display. For generation of Chinese under increasingly high pressure, it is a chance to have fun and an excuse to spend.

Interviewee A: Yeah, I celebrate Christmas. I go out, eat with friends and go shopping. I spend around 7000 Yuan on clothes at Christmas.

Interviewee B: The history? I am not too clear on it. It is a foreigners’ festival. We just like celebrating it. It is fun.

Christmas in China is less about the birth of Jesus, and more about the presents. The main form of celebration is shopping and for retailers here, this is boom time. But it is also the start of a much bigger spending season leading up to Chinese New Year.

Interviewee C: A lot of our stores were opened this year, and so our sale figures from November to December as increased about 30%.

Analysts say retailers are spurring on festivals to get shoppers in the mood.

Interviewee D: In the economic slowdown trend, the retailer and the manufacturers in China are pushing very hard to create the shopping occasion or the excuse for the consumers. China becomes more and more open to the Western cultures, especially for the young generations. They are educated, so it’s really a big occasion for them to shop, and create an excuse to release the pressures they have in the work or in the study.

Gifts in China are also more varied.

Interviewee E: More and more consumers in China have the concern of health, so dairy categories, dairy industry, especially the premium, the very good quality milk, is treated as a gift to their families, to their friends, to their kids.

With Chinese leaders rolling out new measures to boost consumption, seasonal shopping sprees are likely to grow.