China's market research sector is expanding by about 30 percent annually, fueled by a growing demand from domestic companies resorting to professional agencies to get a better understanding of the market, a senior official with the industry's state-level association said.

　　Last year, China's market research companies generated revenue of about 2 billion yuan (US.3 million), 70 percent of which was contributed by domestic companies.

　　"Since the 1990s, China's market research sector has maintained its momentum of expanding by about 30 percent each year. There is no sign that this sector will lose steam," said He Jianxin, secretary general with the China Marketing Research Association.

　　"The trend is that more local companies are resorting to research services to seek information and support," He said.

　　He said domestic companies have shown increasing interests in gaining market figures from professional agencies.

　　Industry insiders said the increasingly intensive market competition in China has forced domestic companies to make business decisions on accurate market figures, instead of relying on second-guessing.

　　Acnielsen, the world's largest marketing information company, has received the signal well.

　　By next year, the company will triple its number of sample stores in China to 15,000 to better track information and offer in-depth service to its Chinese clients. The company plans to extend its tracking network into second-tier cities such as Hangzhou and Suzhou, said SK Fung, managing director of ACNielsen, North Asia.

　　The company will also begin offering monthly research reports to provide more up-to-date infor-mation than its current bi-monthly offerings.

　　"China is among the most important markets for ACNielsen. The demand for market information has increased tremendously with China's rapidly changing business environment," Fung said.

　　Although fung did not regard any other companies as ACNielsen's competitors, He said the competition will become more intense in the near future.

　　"The world's leading marketing research companies have all entered China. Another rapidly growing group is the homegrown research companies," He said, adding that there were more than 2,000 market research agencies domestically.

　　Britain-based Millward Brown, one of the world's top 10 market research agencies, set up its Asia Pacific headquarters in Shanghai last month.