The development trend of the hottest population an

Population trends and their challenges to China's packaging industry

good morning! I am very happy to come to Beijing from the other side of the earth, and thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak for you. Packaging is not only a technical discipline, but also deeply influenced by human society. Therefore, when deciding the topic of my speech, I did not choose a technical theme, but to discuss with you the demographic development trend of Chinese society and its challenges to China's packaging industry. Demography is a discipline that studies how population size, composition and population trends affect social, political and economic activities. Demographic parameters that affect packaging include age distribution, family size, urbanization, education, social structure, and, of course, income. In today's economic globalization, social trends and trends are spreading rapidly between continents and countries. Internet announced that China (Ningbo) international new materials technology and industry exhibition will be held in Ningbo International Convention and Exhibition Center from November 17 to 19, and the mass media will quickly spread information to promote new trends and generate new demand. However, the main disseminators of the trend are global trade and powerful multinational companies aimed at opening up new markets and attracting new consumers. Economic globalization makes different nations and societies more and more alike, but it is also a good opportunity to integrate others' knowledge and experience. China is a big country with a long tradition and civilization. Some people may have said before that a country with 1.3 billion people should be able to be self-sufficient without external influence. However, this is no longer possible today. In China, millions of people have been living a superior life as citizens of the United States, Europe, Japan and other countries. They have enough income to live such a life.

as Chinese people visit more and more places, they not only broaden their horizons, but also expand the range of goods they come into contact with. Once they go abroad, shopping seems to be their most interesting activity. Athens, my hometown and one of the European tourist attractions, is committed to attracting more business tourists and ordinary tourists from China. All market surveys have pointed out that for most Chinese people living in cities, especially the young generation, they yearn to have the same things that foreigners want or already have. The good consumption atmosphere in China can be seen from the retail sales, which has risen to about 600billion euros per year. The communication market grew by more than 50%, and the automotive and automotive products market grew by 44%. The turnover of food and beverage is increasing at an annual rate of 19%. Generally speaking, the development trend of China is consistent with that of the world. I would like to mention the following trends:

· population aging in developed countries.

this trend is more obvious in China. By 2040, the proportion of the elderly population in China will be higher than that in the United States. It is predicted that this trend will increase the demand for products and services for the elderly, including packaging. Table 1: proportion of residents over 60 years old in the population

year 1970, 2000, 2015, 2040, 2050

China, 7%, 10%, 15%, 28%, 31%, 14%, 16%, 20%, 25%, 25%, 25%

· household savings decreased. An important factor in China's rapid economic development is abundant household savings. However, it can be predicted that more and more Chinese households will gradually change from savings to consumption, and begin to borrow to meet their growing consumption demand.

· family size will be smaller and smaller. Table 2 reflects the trend of advanced organic materials from 1961 to 2001. The data in the table shows the average level of Europe and the United States, but China, especially China's big cities, has the same trend. The average size of Chinese households is 3.3 people per household, which is close to the average of 3.0 people in the United States, Canada and other countries. In metropolises such as Beijing and Shanghai, the proportion of one person families and two person families is 35% and 36% respectively. In fact, the smaller the family size, the more food waste, and the more consumption of packaging materials, As shown in Table 3:

Table 2: family size the proportion of families of this size in the current year

year 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001

one person 14%, 18%, 22%27%, 29%

two persons 30%, 32%, 34%, 35%

three or more persons 56%, 50%.46% 39% 36%

Table 3: consumption vs household size

household size food Consumption (kg/year/person), packaging waste (kg/year/person), food waste (kg/year/person)

one person ﹐ 600 ﹐ 70 ﹐ 150 ﹐ P>

two people ﹐ 560 ﹐ 60 ﹐ 110 ﹐ P>

three people ﹐ 470 ﹐ 45 ﹐ 20

the increase in the consumption of "convenience food" has also led to an increase in the demand for packaging materials. For example, pizza is the convenience food with the largest increase in consumption. It is estimated that 25 billion pizza boxes were sold worldwide in 2005. In addition, I also want to mention the packaging of McDonald's and KFC, which are more and more popular in China.

· user supremacy is developing rapidly

a society with developed social networks can be exactly said to be a consumer society. The development trend of consumer protection movement in China is faster than that in Europe and North America. Chinese people are rapidly becoming world-class shoppers: luxury companies are booming in China. Armani plans to open 20 to 30 new stores in China by 2008. Prada will invest $40million in China in the next two years to double the number of its stores. Louis Vuitton has opened 13 chain stores in Shanghai and other places in China to sell a full range of products. In addition, large department stores, supermarkets and discount stores are also everywhere. The campaign to protect the interests of consumers came into being with the consumption of packaging materials, which will bring demand for retail packaging, wholesale packaging and transportation packaging, which will be used to protect products and consumers, and also facilitate the transportation of products from factories to stores and finally to consumers.

· large retail chains will gradually dominate the market.

they are super powers that create trends among consumers and are also the makers of the rules of the game for their suppliers' markets. Even powerful companies such as P & G and Coca Cola are no exception. More than 55% of the packaging materials are used for packaging food and beverages, of which about 75% are used for products sold through supermarket chains. Next, I want to talk about some factors that are challenges for Chinese enterprises in general, but have a direct impact on the long-term success of packaging enterprises.

first, the originality and courage of the Chinese people:

the Chinese people were famous for their originality and courage as early as thousands of years ago. Chinese ancestors contributed hundreds of important technological inventions to the world, including compass, papermaking, printing, gunpowder, embroidery and silk. The ancient innovation culture has been passed on to modern Chinese enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises. Second, the size of packaging enterprises:

small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of the economy, and they bring a large part of technological innovation and entrepreneurship in the world. Most packaging enterprises fall into this category, and they struggle to survive between their raw material suppliers and consumers, because the latter is more powerful economically or commercially and determines the rules of the game. Then the essential weapon of packaging enterprises is the continuous development of product and service innovation. Third, innovation:

the winning "weapon" of packaging enterprises is innovation, and they must be helped to effectively use this "weapon". Recently, we have noticed that China has some projects to fund innovative enterprises and promote interaction between enterprises and academic institutions. I would like to mention here that the "small technology enterprise innovation fund" (hereinafter referred to as "innovation fund") is established to support the innovation activities of small enterprises. Chinese counterparts should take advantage of these projects. The number of projects should be increased, and the budget should also be increased. I hope this new innovative spirit will be reflected in the future entries of "world star". So far, most of the "world star" award-winning works from China are artistic creations based on Chinese tradition. In the future, I believe we will see more innovative and functional works from China. One such work has appeared in your country's "world star" award-winning works this year. Labor: China should not base its economic development and attraction to foreign capital on the supply of cheap labor. Considering the population development trend I mentioned earlier, China will soon no longer be a country that can provide cheap labor. As we all know, foreign capital is usually easier to flow to countries with cheap labor. It is obvious that in order to achieve comprehensive, harmonious and sustainable development, China is trying to transform it into a society with knowledge driven economic development. Every year, a large number of graduates graduate from thousands of colleges and universities in China. They will become qualified scientists and engineers. In addition, about 500000 Chinese scientists and engineers are studying in universities around the world. Unfortunately, most college graduates want to go to (or have been employed by) universities and research institutions, but these places cannot produce market-oriented innovation. A small number of qualified scientists and engineers who are interested in working in the industry are often attracted by large multinational companies or state-owned enterprises. This leads to the "talent shortage" of small and medium-sized enterprises. Chinese governments at all levels and the whole society should try to reverse this trend. V. intellectual property rights:

the Chinese government has recognized that the protection of intellectual property rights is very important for the long-term development of the country and has enacted a copyright law. China's relevant laws have met, and some have even exceeded, the standards of the corresponding international treaties. The implementation of these laws will promote all countries in the world to transfer technology to China, especially foreign small and medium-sized enterprises, although they are not yet willing to sign technology transfer agreements with China. I believe that for young people who have received engineering or natural science training and legal knowledge training, patent lawyers will be a good career. Patent lawyers can not only help Chinese companies protect their patent rights, but also help them bypass those disputed patents in a completely legal way. I would also like to mention China's significant step in this direction, which is far-reaching to narrow the gap with foreign advanced technology, that is, China's accession to the world trade organization. Vi. environmental factors:

one of the major challenges faced by innovators in China's packaging industry is to invent effective packaging that consumes less energy and resources and wastes after use. We must be committed to creating new packaging solutions that save more energy. Of course, this is not limited to packaging and packaging waste, but also can be extended to various economic activities. China's rapid economic growth is the driving force of global economic development. However, economic development has also brought environmental burdens. I am glad to learn that China is improving energy efficiency