What are the Booming Industries in China Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic?

While the rest of the world is on a race in fighting the best cure for COVID-19, China, at a slow pace, is reopening its doors. The 76-day lockdown in Wuhan was lifted in the first week of April. Stores and establishments are opening, and customers are adapting to the new normal. 

People are required to wear face masks, and temperature checks are required before entering stores. Businesses had to shift from existing business models for in-stores to “new normals” to protect employees and customers. Remote work is shaping the way companies collaborate. 

COVID-19 has changed business paradigms, but there are industries that are generating business opportunities and unprecedented growth. Even if stay-at-home orders and contactless transactions have changed consumer behavior, the surge in demand of products and services in these industries listed below are generating profits. 

Let’s explore these booming industries – online education and e-learning, lifestyle and health and wellness, medical equipment and supplies, e-commerce, and entertainment and gaming – in China and see how you can thrive during these times. 

Booming Industries China Due To COVID-19: Online education and e-learning

To help flatten the curve, world leaders have imposed lockdowns for people to stay at home. From offices to public parks, businesses have to close and embrace WFM arrangements. 

Students have to adapt to remote learning to keep up with assignments and lessons. 

From students to employees and unemployed, consuming e-learning courses helps to stay productive. 

China pushed innovative ways to bolster e-learning as an alternative approach. Language learning apps are experiencing a surge in demand during this pandemic. More people want to learn new languages and skills. 

It’s expected that by 2024, the e-learning industry will hit $200 billion. 

 Lifestyle and health and wellness 

Government authorities are steering clear crowded places to avoid transmission of the virus. During the lockdowns, home exercises and workouts, including fitness equipment sellers, are booming. 

Chinese fitness apps that offer home workouts are ranking in the iOS and Android stores. 

From yoga to explosive workouts, mobile fitness apps, and live broadcasts of classes are the new norms. 

Aside from digital products, people are keen to shop online for gym equipment, and home delivery service apps were a huge solace for online shoppers. 

Medical equipment and supplies and online healthcare services

The global pandemic has caused a surge in demand for medical equipment and healthcare services. Medical companies that have been supplying China before the pandemic are exploring all possible innovative technology to fight COVID-19. 

The pandemic has increased the import/export activities of China-based and overseas companies for medical equipment and supplies to treat patients. 

This crisis offers opportunities for medical companies overseas where they need localization services. For example, the medical devices of an Israeli startup Hospitech called AnapnoGuard were already being used in China even before the outbreak. 

There’s an increasing demand for online medical consultations between patients and doctors. Mobile downloads of WeDoctor, Ping An Good Doctor, DXY, and Chunyu Yisheng are the go-to of patients. They can inquire about the symptoms and medications to healthcare professionals. 

e-Commerce and online shopping

Booming Industries China COVID-19: China’s retail sector was poorly hit in Q1 2020, dropping 19% of retail sales. Since most shops and establishments were closed, people still opt for online shopping. Grocery online shopping is one of the industries that have a huge surge so they can buy their essentials. 

JD.com saw an increase in its online grocery sales during the ten days from late January to early February. 

E-commerce still thrives during the pandemic. Although the revenue has been lower than last year, tech giants are racing to win the hearts of customers. 

Alibaba launched its own Taobao Special Offer to compete with Pinduoduo using gamification features. 

In the time of coronavirus, China is revolutionizing e-commerce through entertainment. Influencers are using live streaming of product tutorials. And e-commerce giants are offering group buying deals for shoppers. 

Entertainment (gaming and video content)

China’s smartphone shipments experienced a decrease of 23.3% in Q1. But despite the decline, the entertainment industry, which includes gaming and leisure, are booming. 

The lockdowns and stay-at-home orders affect the mental health and habits of people. To cope and thrive, entertainment and gaming have become people’s havens during the pandemic. 

China is the largest video gaming market in Asia and the world. It has 720 million gamers where they use a mobile, laptop, console hardware, and PCs, according to Niko Partners. The gaming market is expected to generate about $36 million in revenue this year.

Meanwhile, the online video streaming platform iQiyi, the Netflix of China, has a total of 187.61 million unique visitors as of March 2020. Another way to cope up with this pandemic is to watch movies. From TV shows to movies and online courses, whether adults or children, this market is constantly growing. Chinese love paying premium subscriptions in exchange for high-quality entertainment. 

Recently, Sony invested $400 million in Chinese video streaming Bilibili. It’s the most popular online entertainment platform among Generation Z, China’s youth. According to recent data, Bilibili experienced a 40% growth in monthly active users, showing how active and engaging the youth are in terms of video consumption. 

Over to you – what’s your action plan? 

Booming Industries China COVID-19: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opportunities that these booming industries offer can’t be overlooked. Any business, regardless of whether you’re in the entertainment or healthcare sector, can take advantage of how Chinese consume online media.

For example, if you’re publishing e-learning courses, you can take advantage of the video translations in Chinese. Online training about healthcare and how to fight COVID-19 are in demand these days. 

You may also showcase your medical devices and technology to your Chinese counterparts. You may invest in website translation and localization strategies to generate leads and inquiries. 

LIMPID has worked with the medical translation, which Chinese healthcare professionals can deploy at hospitals. 

Here are some of the services you can explore:

• Professional Chinese translations – documents, print-ads, and websites from English to Chinese (Simplified or Traditional Chinese)
• Mobile app localization – iOS or Android application that needs localization and translation of texts
• Software localization – translation and localization of user interface and user experience, whether it’s a software for business or healthcare devices
• Digital marketing – promote your brand in Chinese social media platforms, blogs, and print-ads, includes WeChat management and marketing
• Voice-over (Mandarin or Cantonese) – ideal for videos, whether it’s for promotional or education purpose, also perfect for e-learning and training materials in digital format
• Subtitling and captioning – add Chinese captions to videos so your target audience can also read and listen with clarity

If you’re publishing videos, whether it’s a documentary, e-learning course, or movie for kids, take advantage of the Chinese video translations, voice-overs in Mandarin and Cantonese, and subtitling services where you can reach out to millions of viewers. With a little help from the LIMPID team, you can have your account set up on these Chinese video platforms, too.

Let us know how LIMPID can help you with your next step.  Contact Us for any questions or quick price quote.