Johnnie Walker's Bruce Lee incarnation: savvy, scary, or both?
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. Check out today’s stories below:
Food, Wine, and Spirits
Johnnie Walker takes a page from Coachella playbook with computer-generated Bruce Lee ad.#
Possibly inspired by the California music festival's 2012 resurrection of Tupac Shakur in hologram form , Johnnie Walker Scotch has created a hair-raising new ad with a disturbingly lifelike computer generation of deceased martial arts icon Bruce Lee .
Policy
The United States and China discuss a bilateral investment treaty#
, but it's apparently not going to do much, argues Bob Davis at China Real Time Report .
China's 2013 GDP target may be downgraded.#
Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said that 6.5 percent may be "tolerable" in the future . Bill Bishop notes in today's Sinocism newsletter that his comments may have signaled a lower growth prediction .
Aviation
Gulfstream sees great potential in China's private aviation market.#
"The G650 is positioned to appeal to the growing Chinese market, where customers prefer bigger, more expensive planes," says CNN .
Auto
General Motors sells more vehicles on mainland than Volkswagen in mainland and Greater China combined.#
The increase is thought to be driven by Cadillac and Buick demand. "Volkswagen, which unlike GM includes Hong Kong and Macau in its China figures, today reported first-half sales in China rose 19 percent to 1.54 million vehicles. That compares with the 1.57 million deliveries reported by GM ."
Travel and Leisure
Luxury cruises catch on in China.#
Financial Times sent a reporter onboard a Chinese luxury cruise, where one customer told her it was “just like scenes from the film Titanic." Her account of the journey is worth a read , for both business and entertainment purposes.
Retail
British Prime Minister James Cameron's wife helps luxury label Smythson set up shop in Hong Kong#
, and talks to the South China Morning Post about the label's strategy and her fashion credentials.