Retailing in China (PRC)

With more than 1.3 billion people, roughly one-fifth of the world's population, China has the greatest number of consumers in the world. Imperialism, worldwide wars, civil wars, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultnral Revolution damaged the country and its economy for most of the twentieth century. In the 1970s, economic reforms transformed the country and formed the foundation for mainland China's rapid economic development in the 1990s. China has been experiencing the fastest-growing economy over three decades with an average annual GDP growth rate greater than 10 percent, ranked the third largest in the world. The rise of China has far-reaching implications for the world as a whole, because it generates growth momentum for other countries by increasing demand for their goods, services, and capital.