Chinese consumers remain confident about the global economic situation despite the impact of the SARS outbreak.

This encouraging finding is revealed in the latest ACNielsen Consumer Confidence Survey, which was conducted online at the end of May 2003 in 13 countries and regions.

The ACNielsen Asia Pacific Consumer Confidence Survey regularly gathers information from regular users of the Internet across the Asia-Pacific region on their attitudes, preferences and consumption of media, products and services across different markets.

Up to 53 per cent of surveyed Chinese mainland consumers expect the world economy to recover from the current recession within one year. That figure was among the highest in the Asia-Pacific region, second only to India, with 61 per cent of Indians expecting to see a recovery within a year.

The most pessimistic were the Japanese, with 84 per cent of respondents -- up 11 per cent on the previous survey -- expecting a recovery to take more than 12 months or simply "don't know'' when to expect it. Indonesians also remain highly doubtful of a speedy recovery, with 82 per cent believing a recovery will not occur until the second half of 2004.

"China's confidence in the world economic outlook stems from the booming domestic market,'' said Glen Murphy, managing director of ACNielsen China. "Evidenced by our previous studies, SARS has only had a temporary effect on certain industries in China. The poll here further substantiates our view that despite the previous weakened domestic demands in some sectors, China picks up quickly and will soon re-emerge as one of the most dynamic markets in the world.''

The survey shows that 47 per cent of Chinese mainlanders claimed that due to SARS outbreak, they have deferred major purchases in the past six months, which partly contributed to the weakened demand. Among the most affected were big ticket purchases or non-essential items such as cars, mobile phones, property, and digital cameras.

But the survey also indicates a recovery of demand for such items in the near future. When asked about what products they will consider to buy soon, mobile phones and digital cameras emerged at the top of the list, with 37 per cent and 35 per cent of respondents ready to buy in the coming six months. Other products on their list are broadband Internet (23 per cent), notebook PCs (22 per cent) and desktop PCs (20 per cent).

"With the recent success in controlling the SARS situation in China, we can see the Chinese people are getting over the pressure brought by the epidemic. It won't be long before they get back to a normal life, and start opening their wallets again,'' said Murphy.

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