Flying high in China

摘要

A new advertising law, which came into force across mainland China on 1 September, has dairy brands worried about the costs of compliance. But some believe the law, intended to protect consumers from false advertising, is strengthening the hold of big domestic players on the market. Advertising is ubiquitous in China. The Chinese advertising market was worth US$70 billion (€62.7bn) last year, according to US consulting firm McKinsey. The dairy sector has long been one of the biggest spenders on ads, with giant billboards for leading local firms such as China Mengniu Dairy and Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group hanging over major arteries, such as Beijing's third ring road. The battle for sales between Mengniu and Yili has also meant brisk advertising business for China's Central TV (CCTV) and regional channels. Together, the two dairy firms spent over US$600 million (€537.7m) in 2014 on advertising, according to McKinsey.