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Ad spending up 15% to 441b yuan in 2008

By Zheng Lifei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-01-22 15:11

China's advertising spending increased 15 percent from a year ago to 441.3 billion yuan ($64.47 billion) in 2008, bolstered by the Beijing Olympics-related boom, but its outlook for continued growth this year remains gloomy due to the economic slowdown, a market research firm said today.

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Advertising on television accounts for 76 percent of the total spending, maintaining its absolute lead among all the media outlets, market research firm CTR said.

Advertising spending on print media, especially newspapers, jumped 18 percent from a year earlier, reversing the negative growth it recorded in 2007.

Cosmetics is the single biggest advertising spender in 2008, according to the CTR report.

"Given the volatile market situation in 2008, the 15-percent increase in advertising spending is laudable," said Tian Tao, deputy head of the market research division of CTR.

But as the economic outlook remains gloomy and the financial crisis is likely to have severe impact on the finance, property and auto sectors, advertising spending is expected to suffer a "hard landing" in 2009, Tian said.