Jing Daily’s Top Posts for the Week In case you missed them the first time around, here are some of Jing Daily’s top posts for the week of April 18-22: How Far Off Are Local Chinese Luxury Brands? Following the release of the Chinese government’s 12th five-year plan, which prominently advocates the nurturing of domestic Chinese brands that can compete on a global level and move up the value chain, we’ve seen a significant rise in the number of Chinese-language articles asking: just how far off are actual home-grown Chinese luxury labels? While a new generation of independent designers is now active in Beijing and Shanghai, pumping out a steady supply of avant-garde-leaning collections, influential brands are scarce. With the notable exception of Chinese brands supported by major international partners, such as the Hermes-backed Shang Xia, the Richemont-backed Shanghai Tang, and the French-Chinese jewelry house Qeelin, few clear leaders have emerged in the running to become China’s first internationally successful premium marque. A lack of competitive brands hasn’t only annoyed the Chinese government, but has been, according to Chinese Ministry of Commerce officials, a key factor in the much higher prices charged for luxury brands in mainland China. Jean-Claude Biver Jing Daily Q&A: Hublot CEO, Jean-Claude Biver (Part One) (Part Two) One of the highlights of the Prestige Brands Forum, held this past weekend at the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai, was a Q&A panel with the animated and enthusiastic Jean-Claude Biver, CEO and Chairman of the Swiss watch label, Hublot. A relative latecomer to mainland China, Hublot entered the market approximately 18 months ago, launching strong localized initiatives that included the appointment of Jet Li as the brand’s first Asian ambassador and a charity watch collaboration with author Han Han. Jing Daily sat down with Biver on the sidelines of the forum for a discussion that touched on his plans for tackling the lucrative China market and his thoughts on the current state of luxury there. Christie’s Education To Offer Chinese Contemporary Art Course In Hong Kong With the number of new Chinese art collectors growing rapidly over the last two years, a development that Jing Daily has previously noted has completely reshaped the Chinese contemporary art market, educators are increasingly looking to cater to this important but still relatively undereducated group. Among these educators, the academic wings of auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s have been quick to offer short courses in Hong Kong designed to give a quick but thorough introduction to the world of Chinese art, art appreciation, and art collecting. Next month, Christie’s Hong Kong will roll out its latest short course, “Introduction to the Modern and Contemporary Chinese Art Market,” a new three-day course that explores and explains the development and intricacies of the booming Chinese art market. As Beijing Cracks Down On Outdoor Advertising, Luxury Giants Go Digital Over the past weekend, Beijing’s much-hyped ban on outdoor advertisements that promote “hedonism, lavishness and the worship of foreign things” took effect. As Jing Daily wrote last month, the ban is ostensibly aimed at “[easing] public concerns about the country’s widening wealth gap” by ridding the city of advertisements that use words such as “luxury,” “high-class,” “supreme” and “royal” at risk of a 30,000 yuan (US$4,595) fine per infraction. Though Beijing’s new campaign should have little actual effect on the city’s fast-growing luxury market — new and increasingly lavish flagships are opening there seemingly every month — the ban shows that right now, in the words of one article, “luxury is a dirty word” in Beijing. (In public, at least.) However, in private, Beijing’s luxury-obsessed consumers are now more spoiled than ever, as many of the world’s top high-end brands have learned that outdoor advertising is less effective than online outreach and have gone increasingly digital. Boutique Hotels “Gotta Have Art” To Stand Out In China Market With the number of hotels under construction in China skyrocketing in the last few years, and virtually all of the world’s top chains digging into Beijing and Shanghai for the long haul, one trend that seems to only be picking up steam is that of boutique hotels attempting to fill a niche by stocking a nicely curated supply of Chinese contemporary art. While few can do opulence quite like Shanghai’s Peace Hotel or the Fairmont Beijing, in an effort to brand themselves as a place for the hip and worldly, boutique hotels like Yi House, The Opposite House, and Langham Place have found that Chinese art can be the missing ingredient.