Understanding shoppers' needs is vital

Nation's consumers care about price, but they're status-sensitive as well

For foreign companies that aspire to penetrate the Chinese market, to truly understand the needs and changing characteristics of its consumers is a constant challenge.

The importance of the market goes without saying. As the Economist magazine said: "In the 1950s and 1960s. the world economy was transformed by the emergence of American consumers. Now China seems poised to become the next consumption superpower."