Fearing pollution, Chinese families build 'bubbles' at home

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Liu Nanfeng has five air purifiers,
two air quality monitors and a water purification system in
his Beijing apartment. He buys organic. But still he worries
for his 2-year-old daughter's health.
"I feel safe at home, but when we go out to the mall, the
indoor and outdoor air are the same," the 34-year-old
screenwriter said. "It feels hopeless."
China's persistent pollution and regular product safety
scandals are driving an increasing number of consumers to
build bubbles of clean air, purified water and safe products
at home and in their cars.
Beijing's city government has twice this month issued
pollution "red alerts", the first time it has triggered its
most severe smog warning.
While there is no official data on their numbers, market
analysts say Liu's tastes reflect the concerns of a large
and growing group of well-heeled urban consumers.
Foreign and domestic companies are starting to take
notice of what could be called "bubble families", a
demographic whose emergence has been fueled by new
technologies and the rapid spread of e-commerce.
Though air quality data has been available for years from
the Chinese government - as well as the U.S. embassy
and consulates around the country - public awareness of
environmental threats is on the rise, especially since the
February online release of journalist Chai Jing's
environmental documentary "Under the Dome".
Websites such as Alibaba's Taobao.com have made it
easier to find products from overseas that are perceived
as safer.
"A LIFE TO PROTECT"
For Xue Peng, a 32-year-old chemical engineer in
Shanghai, his wife's pregnancy three years ago changed
everything. "I had a life I needed to protect. It was my
responsibility to give him a safe environment," he said.
Xue spent about 30,000 yuan ($4,627) on two air purifiers
from Philips and Swedish company Blueair and another
20,000 yuan on a water purification system from U.S. firm
Ecowater. He limited his toy purchases to big, trusted
names such as Lego and Fisher Price.
"Parenthood is a huge catalyst for consumption and
upgrading of certain products," said Elisabeth de Gramont,
Shanghai-based vice president at Jigsaw Communispace,
a consumer research group. Among upper middle class
parents in China's bigger cities, buying toys and skin care
products for children from overseas is common, she said.
Min Yoo, managing director for China and Korea at market
research firm YouGov, said that the group of Chinese
consumers concerned about the environment and willing
to spend money to protect themselves included "not just
the white-collar cosmopolitan Chinese".
"It also includes the 50-, 60-year-old local Chinese living
in a city who has never been outside China, whose adult
children would buy these products," he said.
The growing public concerns have presented companies
with an opportunity.
Bosch, the German electronics group, recently began
selling an in-car air purifier and a small air quality monitor
developed in China for the Chinese market.
Xiaomi, the homegrown electronics brand best known for
its affordable phones, has launched a new line of air and
water filters and monitors. During a November promotion,
it sold more than 42,800 air purifiers. By mid-December, it
had sold out of its newest model, released only on Nov.
24.
Origins Technology, a Beijing start-up, sold out of its 499
yuan Laser Egg handheld air quality monitors during this
month’s smog wave. There is now a waitlist for the
product.
THE PRICE OF SAFETY
Imports of bottled water are up sharply in volume terms,
rising from 36 million litres two years ago to 46 million
litres in the first 10 months of this year, according to
Chinese customs.
Imports of food and live animals – Chinese customs
includes them in the same category – rose 63 percent
between 2011 and 2014. Online in China, Evian presents
one of its boxes of water as "the choice of French
mothers".
Sales at Fruitday, an app and online platform for imported
fruit, rose 150 percent in 2014 to 500 million yuan, the
company said.
Reports of fake goods are common in China. Consumers
who can afford to prefer more expensive products, said
James Roy, associate principal at China Market Research
Group.
High-end air purifiers such as the Blueair Pro XL cost
23,220 yuan, not much less than the average urban annual
income of 28,844 yuan, according to government data.
Replacing all of the filters in other high-end air filters can
cost hundreds of dollars.
Juliet Zhu, a TV presenter, had an air purifier and bought all
of her two young daughters' food and clothing from abroad.
Her costs: as much as 20,000 yuan a month.
Two months ago, Zhu moved with her older daughter from
Beijing to Sweden. She raves about the low cost of living,
the delight of drinking from the tap, and the relief that her
daughter can finally breathe freely.