Welcome to Jing Daily’s China Luxury Brief: the day’s top news on the business of luxury and culture in China, all in one place. Look below for the top stories for December 30, 2013.#
1. Spring Festival Spotlight | Carolina Herrera's Year Of The Horse Matryoshka Bag#
"Jumping in on the year of the horse bandwagon is fashion designer Carolina Herrera, who has just launched a special-edition red-and-gold Matryoshka bag to ring in the Chinese New Year."
2. After Decades Of Ashtray Diplomacy, Chinese Officials Are Banned From Smoking#
"Chinese leaders are now banned from smoking in public, using public funds to buy cigarettes, or smoking or offering cigarettes when performing official duties, the Communist Party said in a circular made public Dec. 29, the latest attempt to curb cigarette consumption in a nation of more than 350 million smokers."
[Quartz]
3. Luxury Sector Defies Wider Downturn#
"Hong Kong's top-end residential sector appears more resilient amid a wider market downturn, with a super-deluxe house on the Peak changing hands for HK$740 million last month in the most expensive deal this year."
[SCMP]
4. Phony Goods Hawkers Tap Luxury Hotels For Credibility#
“The case puts a new twist on the business of selling counterfeit goods. Unlike many hawkers of such wares, who typically operate on the street or out of labyrinthine indoor markets, the nine defendants sold their products at fake trade fairs they orchestrated in hotels.”
5. GM Loses China Car Crown, But That's Not The Big Story#
"The big story is not which foreign company holds bragging rights in China. After all, this is probably not the last time GM and VW will exchange the lead. The big story is that, after all these years of technology transfer, foreign companies dominate the Chinese market and domestic competitors continue to lose market share."
[Forbes]
6. 5 Things To Watch: Business In China In 2014#
Can't live without free chatting.
"For foreign businesses, that uncertainty comes along with challenges in other area. Labor costs are rising. Regulatory scrutiny is tightening. Local competitors are adapting and innovating. As a result, some businesses are thinking twice about betting more on the world’s No. 2 economy. Luxury brands have been caught up in Beijing’s anticorruption campaign. China has never been an easy place to do business, but the challenges appear to be mounting.”
[WSJ]
7. Leadership Conference Opens With Mixed Signals On China Economy#
"The annual Central Economic Work Conference opened in Beijing on Dec. 10, about one month after top leaders announced ambitious reform plans for the Chinese economy."
8. French Connection: La Seine Brings Modern Gourmet To Ancient Xi’an#
"Opened under the guidance of famed French chef Alan Pierre Roux, La Seine uses imported spices from France and boasts fresh fruit and vegetables brought in daily from Yangling, a town around 180 kilometers away from the smog of Xi’an."
