China, already the world's fastest growing advertising market, is on the verge of surpassing Japan as the second largest advertising market, Nielsen Media Research (NMR) chairman and chief executive officer Robert L. McCann has predicted.

"China will surely eclipse Japan," McCann said in an interview with Xinhua. "It is a question of when, not if."

NMR research of advertising spending in 2005 showed China ranked third with 37 billion U.S. dollars, while Japan was second with 38.4 billion dollars after the United States. China ranked fifth in 2004.

"For many companies, China represents one of the world's most important opportunities because of the growing population, continuing evolution of its market, and more people having more money to spend," McCann said.

The 60-year-old chairman has a long-lasting ambition to expand the Chinese market. In 1993, Nielsen first introduced its television ratings technology to the country.

In 2003, Nielsen claimed to have expanded to more than 100 Chinese cities, offering what it called "independent transparent" rating services.

"We expect by the end of 2007 that we will have completed the installation of equipment that will enable us to measure approximately 77 percent of the Chinese population," McCann said. "Only the most far western provinces will not be measured by the end of 2007."

He forecast a surge in business in the run-up to the 2008 Olympic Games. "There is a belief that there will be a significant increase in 2007 and 2008 leading into the games in terms of advertising expenditure."

Nielsen was considering methods to help the Chinese government measure ratings internationally.

But he also expressed concern over the transparency and independence of CTR, a competitor that is part-owned by China Central Television (CCTV).

"Competition is fine," he said. "Clients want us. We focus on our clients."

Source: Xinhua