|
 Zhang and her young contemporaries - though far from uniform in
their views - are much more open in their attitudes to 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
from Australia's Ansell Ltd.
"Attitudes are certainly changing. We're increasingly open," said
Zhang, adding her friends mostly chose brands like Reckitt Benckiser
Group Plc's Durex and Japan's top-selling brand Okamoto due to their
reputation for high quality as well as their visible marketing
campaigns.
"This is a very important product, if it goes wrong just once then
the consequence is severe," she said.
In China's big cities, condoms are now 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 their China social media platforms.
On supermarket shelves Ansell's brands Jissbon - named to sounds
like James Bond - and the higher-end SKYN brand sit alongside an
array of local offerings with names like "Endless", "Pleasure More",
"Double Butterfly" and "Donless".
Durex is by some distance the best-selling condom brand on Chinese
online shopping platform Taobao, followed by Jissbon, Okamoto and
local brands SixSex and MingLiu, 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 on its
strategy for the Chinese and other markets. CITIC couldn't be
immediately reached for comment.
Condoms - and sex - are growing topics in popular culture, despite
strict rules on nudity that mean China condom ads are tamer and more
limited than in other Asian markets. Young people also chat about
the subject online - though they often use code.
Pornography is illegal, but China's young find ways to watch it
nonetheless, with an online vernacular growing around its
availability. People who know about the best illegal sites are
called "old drivers", who help others to "find the car".
The government is helping too, spurred by efforts to raise awareness
of illnesses such as HIV/AIDS through high-school sex education
textbooks and campaigns with university students. Peng Liyuan,
China's popular First Lady, actively campaigns to raise awareness of
HIV/AIDS and how to respond to it.
SEXUAL AWARENESS
China's conservative attitude, ushered in by the Communist Party
when it took power in 1949, has slowly been changing -- helped by
growing affluence, more overseas travel and exposure to foreign
popular culture.
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It's far cry from where China was even two decades ago, when more
permanent contraceptive techniques were used once a couple had their
first child to avoid further pregnancy. Even now, sterilization and
IUD coils are still far more prevalent methods than condoms.
"Sexual awareness including contraception is slowly rising," said
Wang Xiaoshuang, founder of sex education firm Greenxxoo, pointing
to premarital sex which is now broadly accepted. "Twenty years ago
that sort of behavior was taboo."
Wang said that there was an increasing awareness of "safe sex"
because of HIV/AIDS prevention campaigns, though added tough rules
around advertising condoms meant most brands had to stick to online
marketing.
The more open attitude could see China's condom market more than
double in size by 2024 from $1.8 billion in 2015, according to a
report from Transparency Market Research.
China's sexual revolution is still nascent, though. This week a
Chinese "female virtues" teacher caused a social media storm by
saying women should not wear short dresses and should save
themselves for their husbands.
"Everything thinks there's a big trend towards buying adult
products... But there is still a big swathe of people here who don't
get it," said a sales worker surnamed An at an adult products store
in Shanghai.
He said growth of the broader "adult" market was steady rather than
stellar, but that young people were now starting to help change
things. "The young want something fresh, they're not just clinging
to conservative views," he said.
Attitudes, including those about sex before marriage have changed
drastically over recent decades, with most people now supportive.
But sex education - key to driving contraceptive demand - still has
some way to go, said student Zhang.
"When I was younger my parents did talk to me about contraception
and some basic things about sexually transmitted diseases.
Everything else I had to go and find out for myself."
(Reporting by Adam Jourdan and SHANGHAI newsroom; Additional
reporting by Tom Westbrook in SYDNEY; Editing by Martin Howell)
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