CHINA Central Television’s (CCTV) yearly auction for primetime advertising was held on November 18. P&G became the top bidder with a total offering of 385.15 million yuan (US$46.57 million). A total of 5.248 billion yuan (US$634.58 million) was raised by the auction, 19 per cent higher than last year.

The highlight of this year’s auction was the number of international enterprises taking part, which was more than 10 times that of last year. Companies such as P&G, Unilever, Colgate, Toyota, NEC and KFC all competed with local enterprises. Bidding from International enterprises totalled 753.3 million yuan (US$91.09 million), compared with 180 million yuan (US$21.77 million) in last year’s auction, according to Guo Zhenxi, deputy director with CCTV’s Advertisement Centre.

Guo said that the growth of this year’s auction can be mainly attributed to international enterprises. “Their huge investment in advertising also reflects the huge potential of the Chinese market,?Guo said.

Shanghai enterprises were also aggressive at the auction, which is widely seen as a weather map of China’s economy.

Shanghai’s private hospital, Changjiang Hospital, won two bids with a total amount of 37.72 million yuan (US$4.56 million). It is also the first private hospital to win a bid in the auction’s 11 year history.

Xu Xiaomin