In case you missed them the first time around, here are some of Jing Daily’s top posts for the week of December 17-21:
China Now World's Largest Luxury Market: Bain Report#
As always, we’re apt to take these findings with a grain of salt, but a new report by Bain & Company estimates that China has surpassed the US to become the world’s largest luxury market. Led by a 7 percent rise in luxury spending this year — strong compared to the global average but down from the double-digit growth we’ve seen in Greater China for the past several years — Bain holds that China accounts for 27 percent of spending on luxury goods and services globally, compared to 20 percent for the United States. Previous reports have projected that China will account for 33 percent of luxury spending by 2015.
Interview: Shanghai’s Bundshop, A Global Platform For Chinese Design#
“Made in China is dead, Design by China killed it,” rallies BUNDSHOP, Shanghai’s newest design e-commerce site. Spearheaded by CEO Diana Tsai and Marketing Director Stephany Zoo, who have taken upon themselves to become cultural ambassadors for aspiring Chinese designers tapping into the global market, Bundshop launched on November 12, shipping over 50 products from 14 designers to 90 countries. Recently, Jing Daily chatted with Bundshop’s Tsai and Zoo about their experience thus far, how they’re pursuing their mantra, and what the site has in store for this holiday season and beyond.
Eye On London: Top Hoteliers, Retailers Woo China's Luxury Traveler#
With an estimated 80 million Chinese tourists heading overseas this year, and industry observers projecting continued double-digit growth in outbound travel, retailers and hoteliers in the UK have been eagerly courting this emerging (and free-spending) market. However, despite strong interest in Britain, China’s wealthy tourist-shoppers have often been more apt to travel to continental Europe, owing to the advantages of the Schengen visa program, which allows travel throughout 25 European member nations. Long one of the world’s top high-end tourism destinations, Britain — despite a more complicated visa process — is still proving popular among China’s high-end travelers, with a record 149,000 Chinese visitors arriving in the country last year and injecting around £240 million (US$389 million) into the economy.
China's Largest Private Art Museum Opens In Shanghai#
Over two years in the making, this week the Long Museum — China’s largest private museum — was officially launched by Chinese art “super-collectors” Wang Wei and Liu Yiqian. Located on Luoshan Road in the Pudong New Area, the sprawling 10,000 square meter museum is currently China’s largest private museum in size and scope, housing a wide-ranging collection of blue-chip Chinese contemporary art on the ground floor, Mao-era “Red Classics” from 1949-1979 on the second, and traditional works and ancient artifacts on the third floor.
Beauty Brands Shine In New L2 Digital IQ Index: China#
Supplanting the auto brands that led the way in last year’s ranking, beauty, fashion, and watches & jewelry brands accounted for more than two-thirds of the top 20 spots on the third annual L2 Digital IQ Index: China. Reflecting the speed at which brands have learned from — and, in many cases, surpassed — digital early adopters, beauty brands in particular showed the most impressive gains over the past year, with Estée Lauder topping the list of 100 prestige brands through savvy use of social media, digital marketing, and on- and offline synergy.