Tourism Industry Advised to Target China’s Middle Class

Qu Hongbin
HSBC economist

By Kim Jae-won
Staff Reporter

Korea should target the emerging middle-class of China in order to boost its tourism and entertainment industry, according to an international expert on the country, Wednesday.

In an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul, Qu Hongbin, chief economist at HSBC, said that China's middle class is growing at a rapid pace, and there will be a new rich class in the country in the coming years.

"The new richclass will visit Korea for sightseeing, casinos and skiing. They want to experience something different. Many Chinese are curious about Korea, and want to experience the nation," he said.

The former Bank of China employee stressed that the Korean government should make more efforts to use the nation's unique culture as a marketing point in attracting more Chinese tourists.

"You have different culture elements, which they cannot get from China. It is a key that can get them to spend money here."

The number of Chinese tourists has increased over the past few years here, with over 1.9 million visiting Seoul last year.

However, this is just 4 percent of the total of Chinese tourists going abroad. According to Chinese authorities, 47.5 million Chinese people went overseas during the same period.

The 17-year-career economist said that entertainment can be another growth engine for Korea.

"Soap operas in Korea are so popular in China. They are becoming a very fashionable thing."

Qu said that China may become the biggest economy in the world by 2040.

"In another 30 years, China will be as big as the U.S. The Chinese global impact will be much bigger at the time. However, the Chinese population is four times larger than the U.S., so GDP per capita will be one fourth of the U.S. even if the size is the same."

Qu said the Chinese economy will continue to grow as Korea's did in the past.

"Just think. China's status now is like Korea's in the 70s. (It is) still in the early stages of industry and urbanization. Sixty percent of Chinese people are still living in rural areas," he said.

"I see unless China makes a big mistake, this process will continue until 70 percent of the population lives in urban areas. (China) still has big potential."

shosta@koreatimes.co.kr

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