December 2007
Red Desert: China’s Media Wasteland
If China is becoming a consumption-driven economy, as some claim, then we would expect to see a boom in its entertainment industries. Urban China has a rapidly growing population of young people with disposable income and a hunger for more interesting media fare than that doled out by the state-controlled newspapers and TV networks. Eventually, with its large population and distinctive culture, China should rival the United States as the world’s biggest entertainment market.
But our survey suggests that “eventually” could be decades away. Urban Chinese consume a lot of media services, but pay for virtually none. A compelling revenue model for entertainment in China remains an elusive goal.
Also in this issue:
- Gabriel Wildau suggests that China’s interior provinces offer attractive alternatives for traditional export sectors like home appliances
- Pieter Bottelier and Gail Fosler examine recent research on China’s productivity, investment and labor market
- Arthur Kroeber and Rosealea Yao look at the long-term impact of housing reform on China’s economic development, arguing that it appears to have been enormous