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China's spending power provides golden opportunities to developing economies

Economy

From African tea to Brazilian football coaching, developing economies' goods and services are in a pole position to cash in on the increasingly diversified demands of the world's biggest middle-income population.

XinhuaUpdated: November 9, 2018

Rising stars

Santos Futebol Clube, where world-renowned footballers Pele and Neymar made their professional debuts, has teamed up with Chinese schools to help cultivate the next generation of great soccer players.

People visit the Brazil booth during the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, east China, Nov. 5, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

"We will bring our expertise in professional football training to schools and enable more Chinese kids to enjoy the game without worrying about their school work," said Fang Ze with the club's Chinese agency.

Sport-related services are part of the growing service trade between China and Brazil, its largest source of service imports in Latin America. China imported 5.49 billion U.S. dollars worth of Brazilian services last year alone, up almost 60 percent year on year.

Developing economies like Brazil are not only expanding their consumer goods exports to China, but also offering a wider range of competitive services to tap the country's niche markets.

Moses Bani, a tourism official from Vanuatu, said the South Pacific island nation has seen an increasing number of Chinese tourists, referring to the Chinese market as a "bonanza" with huge untapped potential.

Photo take on Nov. 8, 2018 shows the booth of Vanuatu at the first China International Import Expo in Shanghai, east China. [Photo/Xinhua]

Air Vanuatu is preparing to launch direct flights to China, Bani said.

China's cumulative service imports are expected to exceed 2.5 trillion U.S. dollars in the next five years, a Ministry of Commerce (MOC) report showed Tuesday.

"As Chinese people's livelihoods continue to improve, the demand for imported services in fields ranging from traveling to cultural consumption will see rapid growth in the future," said Xian Guoyi, head of MOC's department of trade in services and commercial services.

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