News summaries

According to a joint study conducted by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and Nielsen, China’s consumer confidence in Q1 2010 has reached levels not seen since 2007 . I am often skeptical of the figures reported by NBS, however this does fit with the trend of growth in China fueled by government spending and domestic consumption. Within the Chinese consumer market, I would like to focus on one group in particular, the luxury consumer market.

China is currently the fastest growing and second largest luxury goods market in the world, second only to Japan. It is expected to reach the number one spot by as early as 2015. In 2009 Chinese consumers purchased 27.5% of the world’s luxury goods at a total of 9.4 billion USD, in comparison to 2004 when their total was only 2 billion USD. The rate at which China’s luxury market has grown is tremendous, and China is now home to both the world’s second largest diamond market and the number one automobile market.