Chinese youth spur condom demand

SHANGHAI: April Zhang, a 21-year-old student from Shanghai, reflects the fast-shifting attitudes of China’s younger generations towards sex. She’s confident to talk about a topic once taboo and is educated about the risks.

Zhang and her young contemporaries are more open in their attitudes towards sex than their conservative parents and increasingly aware of the need for protection against sexually transmitted diseases.

This sex-savvy generation is set to spur sharp growth of the country’s condom market, a key driver behind a deal by Chinese investors to buy the world’s No 2 condom business for $600 million (R7.7 billion) from Australia’s Ansell Ltd.

“Attitudes are changing. We’re increasingly open,” said Zhang, adding her friends mostly chose brands like Durex and Japan’s top-selling brand Okamoto due to their reputation for high quality as well as their visible marketing campaigns.

In China’s big cities, condoms are available in plain view: convenience stores on urban high streets often have condoms on display by the till, while brands like Durex have millions of followers on social media. Durex is the best-selling condom brand on Chinese online shopping platform Taobao, according to data from Daxue Consulting.

Ansell said on Thursday it had reached an all-cash deal with China’s Humanwell Healthcare Group Co Ltd and CITIC Capital China Partners for its condoms business. Humanwell declined to comment while CITIC couldn’t be reached for comment.

The more open attitude could see China’s condom market more than double in size by 2024 from $1.8bn in 2015, according to Transparency Market Research. – Reuters