Hu Chao, chairman of Leyou, talks with a girl at a Leyou chain store in Beijing's Wangjing area. The multi-channel baby products retailer is planning an overseas listing. Photos Provided to China Daily

Rising disposable incomes, economic growth create growth opportunities for baby product makers

The rising disposable incomes of the Chinese 'baby boomers' those born during or after the 1980s, and their desire to give their children the best of everything has triggered a surge in baby product sales.

Buoyed by the increased consumption, manufacturers are leaving no stone unturned to cash in on the "fourth baby boom" expected to last till 2015 and are increasingly using traditional channels and the Internet to push sales.

Though the babies' and kids' products industry is still in its infancy, companies are now moving up the value chain to cash in on China's robust economic growth.

Like many other successful entrepreneurs, Hu Chao has seen the wheel turn a full circle. The agony of the initial years has been replaced by the sweet smell of success.

But that was not the case 10 years back, when Hu left a comfortable and well-paid job in Silicon Valley and decided to test the fledgling e-commerce waters in China.

Thinking out of the box at that time, Hu set up a domestic e-commerce website for selling baby products. But sadly, it was a boom that was over even before it started.

With a surefire business plan of selling diapers online, it should have been a cakewalk for the entrepreneur.

But Hu found to her frustration that most of the online netizens were youngsters without kids, while the mothers were yet to understand the finer nuances of the web and online shopping.

Since then, much water has flowed under the bridge. Over the years Hu has built up a sophisticated and successful multi-channel retail model to sell maternity and baby products.

The tide started turning after 2005, with nearly 16 to 18 million new babies being born every year in China.

The "fourth baby boom" was at its peak in 2007 and 2008, "the year of the pig and the year of the Beijing Olympic Games.

Young Chinese couples believed that people born during these years would be blessed with tremendous good fortune and luck.

The current baby boom is expected to last till 2015 and will see China having more than 100 million

children under the age of six every year.