New research  from JGOO, the next generation mobile payments platform, reveals that of those companies currently marketing goods and services in China, 67% say sales in this market have grown over the past 12 months.  Furthermore, for those that don’t trade with the world’s second largest economy, one in five companies (20%) are now considering doing this.

Over the next five years, the findings reveal that 40% of British businesses think that the Chinese market will become important for the companies they work for.

However, many organisations looking to trade in China highlight several obstacles that they believe are in their way.  Some 27% say they have had a past poor experience of trying to sell in China and this has put them off attempting to do so again.  One in five (22%) said they don’t know how to ‘sell’ in the country, or where to go to get support for this.  Some 16% say they don’t have any Chinese employees and that this has deterred them from targeting China.

Richard Morecroft, Director and Co-Founder of JGOO said: “With Brexit on the horizon, British businesses need to review their overseas sales and marketing strategies.  As the second largest economy in the world and one of the fastest growing with over one billion people, China should be at the top of the list for UK businesses that have products and services that could appeal to this market.”

“Made in Britain’ is a positive message that resonates with many Chinese consumers, and if you are thinking of targeting the Chinese market, you don’t necessarily have to have operations on the ground given that online shopping there is huge.”

Through their official partnerships with WeChat Pay and Alipay, JGOO provides brands with direct trading access to the Chinese market, connecting UK and European brands to Chinese shoppers and tourists. It not only provides a payments gateway for them to pay for British goods when visiting the country or when buying online via WeChat Pay and Alipay, it also has a team of Chinese nationals in the UK to help clients develop social media marketing campaigns via the WeChat platform – China’s most powerful marketing tool.

The findings from JGOO’s study have been highlighted in a report titled ‘Chinese consumers and their growing focus on the UK’.