BEIJING, May 25 (Xinhuanet) -- The outbreak of severe acute respiratory
syndrome (SARS) has changed the buying habits of Chinese consumers, much as the
September 11 incident did the lifestyle of many Americans.
Sales of air conditioners in big cities were about half that inprevious
summers as people feared contracting SARS via the units.
Zhu Dacheng, general manager of a Sino-foreign joint venture, said the
market demarcation of electric household appliances wouldchange as Chinese
people bought more clothes dryers, dishwashers, air filters and larger
refrigerators.
Many Chinese manufacturers suddenly realized the potential risks and
restructured their product lines. One Beijing clothing factory worked around the
clock to meet the increasing market demand for masks, but most of the gauze
masks ended up in the storehouse of the factory as many picky Beijingers opted
for the protection of imported N95 masks.
"The market prospect of our products was revised overnight," a supplier
said.
Official figures showed 95 percent of the 600 major Chinese-made commodities
were in greater supply than demand, as SARS made businessmen realize there
was a big gap between what people really needed and what the factories
turned out.
The upsurge in the consumption of cars, health products and e-commerce
illustrate the transition of consumption patterns.
The impact of SARS turned out to be a driving force accelerating reform in
some monopolized industries in China.
The slump in passenger traffic incurred heavy losses on China's three
biggest civil aviation companies, prompting them to solve the chronic problem of
bloated operational costs. The airlines postponed ordering new jetliners,
increased cargo carriage, reduced passenger flights and rescheduled flight
routes. Some of them even considered to streamline fuel expenses and employee
salaries.
Government officials and Chinese entrepreneurs reconsidered
their investment decisions. The State Development and Reform Commission (SDRC)
warned against excessive capital investment in the metal melting industry and
raised the threshold for approval of new projects and bank loans.
As some local governments rushed to approve construction of airports,
automobiles, towns and real estate development projects in a bid to promote
local economy, the central government issued orders to prohibit duplication in
capital investment.
The SDRC also drafted a policy guiding the development of the automobile
industry so as to avoid redundancy in production capacity.
After more than 20 years of fast economic growth, China now pays more
attention to the quality of economic growth than to the growth rate.
The Chinese government announced recently that when investing, it will give
priority to constructing public health infrastructure,improving farmers' living
conditions, expanding employment and developing the western regions of the
country.
Meanwhile, the government will also increase financial support for
traditional industrial zones in northeast China, and has allocated one billion
yuan to fund the improvement of basic education for this fiscal year.
Local experts said the gradual change in the fields of government
investment reflected increasing importance attached to social development. The
government wants to do more to letting economic growth benefit most of the
people, especially farmers, the experts said.
Recently, the Chinese government allowed private enterprises access to
wider areas of investment and financial service and gave them tax incentives.
These moves were not only aimed at stimulating economic activities as SARS hit,
but also designed to transfer the role of the government in a market economy.
Chris Devonshire-Ellis, senior partner of consulting firm DezanShira &
Associates, said as China had joined the World Trade Organization and had more
experiences in the development of market economy, the country would continue to
offer more business opportunities for the world. Enditem
