One of the major storylines of 2016 was concern about China's economic growth,
with talk about a hard landing being commonplace.
A deliberate effort to weaken the currency by the People's Bank of China
set off new worries that the country's appreciating currency over the previous decade
was slowing business down more than desired.
As a result, investors wondered if China's continued economic growth was in peril.
In hindsight, the fears about China's slowdown were misplaced.
The Chinese economy continues to grow strongly,
and its emerging consumer class will naturally generate more modest growth than the manufacturing sector,
which is driven by exports.
But even at a slower pace of expansion, China has an incredible growth potential.
For years, China's double digit growth was largely attributable to exports and government-led investment,
with the consumer being a relatively small part of the story.
Today, leaders in China have been actively rebalancing the economy to be more sustainable,
away from exports and government-led infrastructure toward a more consumer-driven economy.
Inevitably, this rebalancing would lead to a slower growth in China than we've seen in the past.
However, even a slower growth China still adds the equivalent of one G20 country every year.
The rise of the Chinese consumer is one of the most important megatrends in the global economy today,
with over 1.3 billion people and a rapidly growing middle class.
Chinese consumers are also very technology savvy with over 700 million Internet users,
95 percent of which buy online.
As in any developing economy, growth in China is not going to follow a straight line.
China is a highly regulated, complex operating environment
and there will be challenges as it follows a more consumer-led path.
In the past, companies investing in China focused largely on developing supply chains
and streamlining the mass production of goods for export.
But as the consumer sector begins to dominate,
international firms recognize the power of China's new consumer markets
and are investing in building their domestic Chinese brands and local presence.
Companies that are tapped into the Chinese consumer market could see potential rewards in the future.
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