China Herald: Luxury is back on track

Rupert Hoogewerf

Austerity marked the luxury goods industry, triggered off by the anti-corruption drive by president Xi Jinping. But the growth figures are back on track, says Rupert Hoogewerf, based on research by his Hurun China Rich report, released on Thursday, he tells the China Daily. Purchases are back on the 2013 level.

The China Daily:

"There is always an inherent demand. For the past three years, (wealthy) people may not have been quite sure, because they didn't want to be too ostentatious," said Rupert Hoogewerf, founder and chairman of Hurun Report.

"But now as the picture has cleared, their interest (in luxury) has risen back to the surface," he added.

Apple, Cartier and Louis Vuitton remain the top three favorite brands among the wealthy, while Samsung for the first time drops out of the favored list. And Alipay, the digital payment tool developed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, has for the first time outgrown credit cards to be the most preferred way to go shopping, while cash is the least favored.

Hoogewerf said he foresees China's luxury industry will reach new peaks over the next five years.

More than 90 percent of the interviewees adopted a positive attitude toward China's economy over the next two years, saying they were confident or extremely confident about prospects.

More in the China Daily.

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