The gift-giving culture is very strong among the Chinese. With Chinese New Year around the corner, the Hurun Research Institute has released its list of the “Top Ten Gifts for the Chinese Luxury Consumer 2012”. The list of top ten luxury gift brands was published in Hurun Report, a monthly magazine that is best known for its annual “China Rich List”. Hurun Report‘s “Top Ten Gifts for the Chinese Luxury Consumer 2012” was the result of a survey that sought the opinions of 503 Chinese millionaires. All respondents were interviewed face-to-face.
The “Top Ten Gifts” list highlighted ten luxury brands that most preferred by Chinese millionaires with respect to giving gifts. Louis Vuitton emerged as top dog on this list, with 14.9 percent of respondents choosing the French luxury fashion brand over all others. At a time when luxury brands from the traditional Western regions are seeing competition from upcoming luxury brands from Asia and elsewhere, it was interesting to see that the top four spots are dominated by French luxury brands. Cartier’s fine jewelry and luxury watches took the second spot on the millionaire’s gift list, while Hermes’ fashion came in third and Chanel’s fashion and perfumes came in fourth. The list of top ten luxury gift brands provided an indication that even Chinese millionaires continue to choose established foreign luxury brands for their luxury gifts. China currently has the third most millionaire households, after USA and Japan.
Rounding off the top five was Moutai, the sole Chinese (and Asian) luxury brand on this list. The beverage company is a specialist in making a Chinese distilled alcoholic beverage named baijiu. They famously produced the 106-proof liquor that Mao Zedong’s Red Army used to disinfect wounds. But France appears again on this gift list, with luxury fashion brand Dior at No. 7. Apple’s consumer electronics feature at the sixth spot, right above Dior, with 5.7 percent of respondents voting for it. This is the only American brand to make it to the “Top Ten Gifts” list. Finally, fashion brand Prada, luxury watch maker Rolex and fashion brand Armani take the eighth, ninth and tenth spots.
Thus, while Moutai and Apple are the sole Chinese and American brands to feature of the gift list, all eight other brands are from Europe. France’s tally is at five, Italy’s at two (Prada, Armani), and Switzerland’s at one (Rolex).
The 503 millionaires that participated in the “Top Ten Gifts” survey all belong to the Chinese mainland. Each has a personal net worth of Renminbi 10 million and higher. In American terms, that covers citizens with personal wealth of $1.6 million and above. In fact, 54 out of these 503 millionaires boast of personal wealth of Renminbi 100 million or higher. Do the math, and it works out to a net worth of $16 million and above per individual. China has certainly come a long way in recent times. What is more significant is that the survey studied relatively younger millionaires – the average age of the respondents was about 41 years.
Hurun Report has been regularly bringing out lists covering the brand preferences of Chinese millionaires for awhile now. The 2012 list of top ten luxury gift brands marks the eighth consecutive year that the magazine has nosed in on the affluent Chinese consumer’s attitudes towards luxury brands.
