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Tag: chinese buyers

  • Chinese spent $106B on global luxury products in 2014

    Chinese bought 46% of the world’s luxury products in 2014 – 76% of which was purchased overseas, a recent Chinese luxury report reveals.1
    In dollar amounts, that was US$106 billion spent by Chinese luxury consumers.1

    Simply put, the global luxury industry is becoming more Chinese. After all, Chinese luxury consumption is influencing this industry like no other nationality has before.2

    Borderless travel & Chinese luxury boom

    China’s population is becoming increasingly urbanised2, and its large and fast burgeoning middle class means more Chinese are able to splurge and travel.2

    Over 100 million Chinese travelled abroad in 2014.10 By 2020, 200 million Chinese tourists are expected to travel overseas.11”
    Also, as they travel more, Chinese have quickly realised the price benefits of buying luxury goods abroad, which resonate well with the typical Chinese value-for-money culture. This further perpetuates their desire to spend, and spend abroad.

    However, it would be foolish to assume that Chinese buyers are all the same. As diverse as China’s many dialects and provinces are, so too, are the profiles of its consumers.

    As the rising sophistication of Chinese consumers2 become more prominently recognised, it’s important to also note the diversity that exists within this group. These buyers range from middle-aged businessmen to young female shoppers to nouveau riche. For example, it’s been said that China’s nouveau riche tend to be more eager and willing to flaunt their newfound wealth.3

    The end result of all this surging wanderlust, though, is the thriving economic impact that Chinese luxury consumers now have – whether in Asia, Europe or the US.3

    Chinese effect on luxury brands

    Given this boom, luxury retail markets worldwide have been scrambling to attract Chinese money, and we don’t blame them. Chinese travellers remain the undisputed fastest-growing luxury buyers in the world, and more enticingly, they allocate 71% their budget on shopping when travelling overseas.5

    2015, however, will see luxury brands evolve. The role of e-commerce, for example, will play a more dominant role.

    In the past, high-end brands have been averse to hopping onto the e-commerce bandwagon, which they perceived would tarnish their image and eliminate the inimitable in-store experience that comes with luxury shopping.

    Now, however, luxury brands are increasingly embracing digital marketing strategies in lieu of the uprising digital and social media revolution – especially in China, where there are 632 million internet users and 519.7 million smartphone users.6

    91% of Chinese go online everyday7, of which 81% access the internet via mobile.6 Additionally, 65% of China’s HNWIs (high-net-worth individuals) favour online social media as their preferred source of information.8
    Yet navigating China’s social media landscape is complex, and quality social media marketing is key to the success of high-end brands transitioning to their digital storefronts without losing its exclusivity appeal and brand loyalty.

    Luxury real estate online

    Fortuitously, luxury real estate has been one sector that has been successful taken online – much like a duck takes to water.

    Overseas property remains the top investment choice for China’s ultra-rich, and the first place to search for such a purchase is online.

    We’ve seen visits on Juwai.com go from 1.5 million to 2.5 million monthly visits, and news of wealthy Chinese investors buying overseas properties without ever even viewing the property are making agents and developers salivate from all corners of the world.
    In the past year alone, we’ve heard of wealthy Chinese investors buying million-dollar homes sight unseen and Chinese luxury property transactions completed entirely via social media. These stories have become the stuff of legends amongst property agents and brokers.

    Somewhat unique to Chinese buyers is their marked penchant for generational driven investment:

    97% of affluent Chinese are more inclined to buy a lifestyle property12, while 93% of Chinese HNWIs are more likely to purchase legacy homes for their children, usually worth between US$1 million to US$3 million.12
    Truly, the impact of Chinese buyers on global luxury markets is impossible to ignore, and property agents and brokers would do well to tap into the market online if they want to remain relevant and on top of the game.

  • First overseas transport card launched for Chinese Tourists

    First overseas transport card launched for Chinese Tourists

    To make outbound travel more seamless for Chinese tourists, NETS and Alipay launched the first overseas transport card that can be purchased right off Alipay’s mobile wallet, which has 190 million active users across China. Tourists can now buy the Alipay FlashPay cards before flying out of China, the two firms announced in a media.

    World Tourism Cities Federation data specifies that transport is a top concern for Chinese tourists, who prefer travelling by public transport overseas.

    Customers who purchase the card on Alipay will be sent an e-voucher, which is presented at designated counters in Changi Airport to enable collection of the card. The Alipay Flashpay card costs $50 – with a card cost of $5 and a stored value of $45. Customers can buy up to five Alipay FlashPay cards, and those who redeem the card by March 31 next year will get a $20 voucher from Changi Airport Group (CAG).

    Mr. Ang Sok Hong, Nets’ senior vice-president of sales, said, the co-brand transit card aims to make trip planning and outbound travel easy for tourists. “Given Alipay’s popularity among Chinese consumers and its volume of traffic, it was only natural for us to partner with Alipay to see how we could make outbound travel more seamless for Chinese tourism.”

    According to, Mr. Peh Ke-Wei, vice-president of passenger development at CAG, such collaborations can boost passenger traffic. China has “consistently been the second-largest visitor market for the past five years, with some 2.27 million Chinese tourists visiting Singapore in 2013.”

  • What do Chinese home buyers want?

    Buy2Greece.com – Wealthy Chinese buyers are long-term property investors who buy homes with future generations in mind, says The Wall Street Journal (3 June 2014). A survey on high-net-worth Chinese by Sotheby’s International Realty revealed 93% are more likely to buy a home for their offspring – as compared to 64% in the US – and will shell out $1 million – $3 million on homes for their children and generations to come. Home value appreciation is the main factor driving affluent Chinese property investors – 99% consider ROI as crucial. Recent data from Juwai.com shows that Chinese buyers from Tier-1 cities (Shanghai, Guangzhou) prefer US and Australia, while Tier-2 cities (Chengdu, Kunming, Harbin) opt for Spain, Germany and France. According to Andrew Taylor, Co-CEO of Juwai.com, “Consumers in tier-2 cities are more adventurous than their tier-1 compatriots. They seem to be leading the charge into the furthest-flung international real-estate markets.”
    source:The Wall Street Journal

  • Chinese buying in GREECE with Buy2Greece brokers

    Buy2Greece.com

    Buying properties in Greece became more popular earlier this year in China after it was highly recommended by immigration agents, because the financially troubled Greek government has introduced a policy to give permanent residency to any foreign buyer purchasing a Greek property worth more than €250,000 (US$340,000), Guangzhou Daily, the official newspaper of the Guangzhou municipal party committee, reports.

    As Greece is one of the 27 European Union member states, and also one of the Schengen countries, permanent residency there applies to both the EU and the Schengen region. The good weather and beautiful landscape there, as well as the comparatively cheap properties prices, has spurred many wealthy Chinese nationals from places like Shanxi and Jiangsu to emigrate to Greece.

    Chinese nationals began to emigrate to Greece on a considerably large scale from just after the turn of the century, mostly second generation overseas Chinese from other European countries.

    In 1998, hundreds of Chinese moved to Greece, and were welcomed because they brought with them cheap but quality textile products, thus leading to a second influx of Chinese immigrants, but by the end of the year 2000, only about 5,000 Chinese had remained in Greece.

    In 2001, an immigration amnesty which effectively gave legal status to illegal residents, boosted the numbers of legal Chinese residents there to around 10,000. Greece conducted another immigration amnesty in 2005, and as Chinese immigrants to other European countries at that time were approaching a saturation point, the total number of Chinese residents in Greece gradually swelled to more than 20,000.

    Investment immigration, however, restricts Chinese property buyers from the right to employment and social welfare in Greece.

    Most Chinese in Greece set up small clothes or shoe shops, said Wang Peng, who is now editor-in-chief and executive director of the only Chinese newspaper in Greece.

    After the 2008 global financial crisis, Greece became the first to fall victim to the European debt crisis, forcing the Greek government to introduce immigration policies aimed at attracting rich investors from China, Russia and the Middle East, in a bid to help its finances.

    On April 9, the Greek congress passed a new investment immigration revision, lowering the minimum purchase price for properties that can qualify foreign nationals for permanent residency from €300,000 (US$401,000) to €250,000.

    Although investment immigration restricts property buyers from working in Greece, buying property to operate as a factory is not restricted, lawyers said.

    According to Greek law, non-EU citizens who buy Greek properties of more than €250,000 in value will be given Greek residency for five years, and after the five year period expires, their residency can be extended on the condition that they do not sell the property, .

    The benchmark of €250,000 refers to the property’s net value, while related tax and expenses for attorneys and property agents has to be added on top of this price, buying a property to get residency will cost at least €300,000, the report said.

    A property agent, surnamed Han in Greece, said she has helped five Chinese families from Shanxi and Beijing successfully immigrate to the nation, because of the new Greek immigration policy. While some old Chinese residents in Greece have considered moving to Italy because of the stagnant business environment in Greece, the report said.

    References:

    Wang Peng 汪鵬