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 industry news from January 31, 2014.#
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Today’s stories:#
Jing Daily’s Chinese New Year Reader Poll: Your Favorite Year Of The Horse Luxury Goods#
“We've been keeping up with the wide array of luxury goods offered for the year of the horse, and now it's your turn to choose your favorite."
Super Bowl 2014 Comes To China: NFL Looks East For Next Big Fan Base#
“Will the NFL succeed in replicating its incredibly lucrative business model in China by making American football a top sport for local audiences? Another quintessentially American pastime, basketball, is currently China’s number one sport. However, unlike basketball, which has enjoyed over a century of exposure in China—beginning with YMCA missionaries and blowing up in the 1980s with the popularity of Michael Jordan—American football is a relative newcomer. ”
What we’re reading:#
Why UK Retailers Miss Out On Chinese New Year Spending#
"The UK is noticeably slipping down the table as a preferred destination for Chinese travellers due to our unfriendly visa regulations, but they will still be arriving in numbers bigger than ever, and they are predicted to spend up to £1.2bn this year on luxury goods and hospitality."
Frugality Drive In China Felt In Steep Drops Of Products, Services#
“As year-end parties were held across the nation before the Chinese New Year on Jan. 31, what were conspicuously missing were giveaways such as iPads and cars as prizes, and luxury meals fashioned from ingredients flown in from Japan."
China’s Hairdressers Take A Post-Holiday Cut In Revenue#
"Fujita Yukihiro, the tattooed, bespectacled owner of two high-end luxury hairdressing salons in Beijing, has stumbled across a fortuitous solution to balance out the peaks and troughs of the hair trade in China."
[FT]
What An Incredibly Popular Lunar New Year’s Gift Tells Us About China’s Economy#
“This year’s top Lunar New Year gift pack on China’s massive e-commerce website Tmall is a 'Three Squirrels' brand nut assortment, which has racked up more than 150,000 sales. A boxed set of seven packs of pecans and hazelnuts, decorated with a cartoon squirrel riding a horse, it weighs nearly 1,700 grams, or almost four pounds.”
[Quartz]
Chinese New Year 2014: Why Britain Must Pay Attention To China's Exploding Middle Class#
“The news certainly deprives Virgin Galactic of access to a huge potential market of wealthy Chinese businessmen willing to pay the $250,000 (£151,000) ticket price for a space flight, but the company might also have more substantial problems.”
[IBT]
Which Is More Corrupt: Virginia Or Sichuan?#
"In China, luxury watches have become such a telltale signifier that bloggers have identified corrupt public servants by the fancy timepieces they wear. Among them, a provincial boss named Yang Dacai, known as 'Brother Wristwatch' for his handsome collection, was found to have nearly nine hundred thousand dollars in unexplained assets; he is now serving fourteen years in prison for corruption."