China's Luxury Consumers Grow Up

[Renew Deal]

Luxury goods marketers in China received some good news last month. After the country's annual policy planning meeting, Minister of Commerce Chen Deming announced that Beijing would soon reduce tariffs and cut red tape on luxury goods imports. The decisions are in line with other policies that will stimulate domestic consumption and, the government hopes, will chip away at the globally contentious trade surplus that China enjoys.

The Chinese market for luxury products has been booming recently. In 2010, sales across categories such as jewelry, leather goods, and upmarket ready-to-wear clothing rose by 20% to reach $12.4 billion. By 2015, luxury goods sales will touch $27 billion — around 20% of global sales — making China the world's largest luxury market.
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http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/04/chinas_luxury_consumers_grow_u.html