Brands are planning to invest heavily in China, eyeing the country as a market that presents a significant opportunity for them to grow their business, according to research from The Trade Desk.

The survey of 300 senior marketers from across North America, APAC, and EMEA – with 100 marketers represented in each region – found that 53 per cent of brands in the UK, France, and Germany view China as a significant growth opportunity. 34 per cent went further to state that the East Asia nation is the biggest growth opportunity for their business.

Currently, less than 10 per cent of sales come from China for a quarter of marketers. However, 59 per cent expect sales to more than double over the next five years.

27 per cent of senior brand marketers are planning to invest more than £250m on digital media advertising in the Chinese market this year alone – which equates to more than the total GDP of Portugal. 47 per cent of these businesses plan to increase their investment by at least 15 per cent in the next five years, and eight per cent expect an uplift of over 40 per cent.

The research, conducted by Forrester Consulting, also found that the main avenues explored by brands to increase their customer base in China will be eCommerce (76 per cent) and social media (72 per cent).

Though there are overall strong expectations for China, 22 per cent of brands feel less than confident that their brand is maximising its digital media buying opportunities in the Chinese market. As such, 76 per cent are ‘likely’ or ‘highly likely’ to move media investment dollars to a global partner who operates internationally. 83 per cent also think it’s ‘important’ or ‘highly important’ for their demand side platform (DSP) to work closely with major media players in the market.

“The Asia-Pacific region is set to be the largest advertising region in the world in just a few short years, and China will be a huge part of this,” said Anna Forbes, UK general manager at The Trade Desk. “Marketers know that eCommerce and social are huge players in the Chinese digital market, and so are planning to pump investment into these channels. But there’s no doubt that China is a complex market that presents unique challenges for brands, and marketers need the reassurance that their spend is efficiently used.”