Last month marked the first anniversary of the release of the Master Plan of the Development of the Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone in Hengqin.
It is believed that the Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone could be a place full of possibilities and opportunities, where talents from all walks of life can come to show their capabilities. The Central Government also has a clear plan for this area, which aims to develop four new industrial sectors, including the Scientific and Technological Research and High-end Manufacturing Industries; Macao Branded Industries, such as Traditional Chinese Medicine; Cultural Tourism, Convention and Exhibition, and Commercial and Trade Industries, as well as the Modern Financial Industry.
Meanwhile, in September last year, Changsha city in Hunan Province, issued the country’s first “Opinions on Vigorously Developing the Sheconomy” which proposed building a “women-friendly city”, and stimulating women’s enthusiasm and consumption vitality.
The document requires that within three to five years, six or so female-themed areas should be established in Changsha, and a number of consumer brands, forums, activities, film and television programmes and exhibitions with Changsha’s characteristics targeting female consumers should be created.
It may seem like these two pieces of news are totally unrelated. However, an idea came to my mind recently:
What if the “Sheconomy” could be an experimental element in the Cooperation Zone, and create unexpected collaborations with the four nascent industries there?
The preconditions
There are two important factors needed to develop the “Sheconomy”: the improvement of women’s economic situations and their social status. Fortunately, both these conditions seem to already be improving here.
The proportion of female executives in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area increased from 22.95 percent in 2017 to 25.99 percent in 2021, the most prominent growth when compared to the national figures, according to the 2022 National Insight Report on the Development of Women in the Workplace released in March this year.
In addition, the annual salary of female middle and high-end talents in the Greater Bay Area also increased from 138,600 yuan in 2017 to 158,700 yuan in 2021, higher than the national average annual salary growth of female middle and high-end talents.
As we can see, women’s social status and economic capacity in the Greater Bay Area are both higher than the national average. Therefore, there is a solid foundation for the development of the “Sheconomy” in the Cooperation Zone.
How can it be achieved?
The Changsha “Opinions” suggested building up the unique competitiveness of brands, including supporting activities and events that appeal to women, as well as providing support to international and domestic top-tier female brands to set up their regional headquarters or stores in the area. They also recommended creating a series of star products with female characteristics and encouraging collaborations between brands and developing women-oriented products through brand stories, visual packaging and social media communication.
These measures could also be adapted and applied in the four key industries of the Cooperation Zone. For example, in the Traditional Chinese Medicine sector, women can be viewed as the consumer group for brand development of cosmetics, health products, medical services and other fields. In the development of Cultural Tourism, Conventions and Exhibitions, and Commercial and Trade Industries, women-themed exhibitions and activities could be created and organised, such as a female consumer industry expos, high-end female salons and female development forums. A female professional skills training base and a female entrepreneurship incubation centre could be established. And there could be sports events for women, and experiences related to women’s leisure and health.
The Changsha “Opinions” also mention that enterprises targeting non-female consumers can be encouraged to focus their attention on cultivating the female market, and support can be given to enterprises who carry out product research and development as well as patent applications oriented towards women’s needs and aesthetics.
For the Scientific and Technological Research and High-end Manufacturing Industries in the cooperation zone, where non-female consumers are the mainstream target audience, could they not also integrate the demands of female consumers and reflect female-friendly elements in the fields such as Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things?
The Cooperation Zone itself is a demonstration stage with four “new” strategic positions. It is like a testing ground with a clear direction, but also open to new possibilities.
Therefore, there is great potentional to integrate principals of the “Sheconomy” in the Cooperation Zone. Such measures could certainly bring about some surprising gains.
I would be interested to know your thoughts on this idea!
澳門文化類非盈利組織創立人及運營者
Founder & Operator of Macau cultural non-profit organization
青年教育項目發起人
Initiator of youth education program
文化活動策劃人
Curator of cultural events
