CHINA'S children, teens and young adults are becoming an increasingly important consumer group for domestic and multinational companies, comprising a US$40 billion market, according to experts taking part in a branding and marketing forum in Shanghai.

"People between six and 29 years old now account for about 34 percent of China's total population, which translates into about 430 million people," Xi Jieying, director-general of the China Youth and Children Research Center, told the two-day China Youth Branding and Marketing Forum. The event, which opened yesterday, is the first of its kind in China to focus on the buying patterns of young people. "Their consumption power and influence are huge," Xi said.

Young people are usually more brand-sensitive than the older generation, and as such they have a major influence on brand decision making, especially in high-tech products such as computers, mobile phones, digital cameras and digital-music players, according to Jon Briggs of TNS ALM, an international research agency.

Given China's 90 million one-child families, large numbers of doting parents also feed into the youth-oriented marketing push, industry experts said.

More than 70 percent of children and other young people in China have absolute decision-making power on food and beverage products, and more than 50 percent are able to make their own choices on TV programs, books, newspapers, magazines and sports activities, according to China Youth and Children Research Center and CTR Market Research.