The Luxury Industry in the Chinese New Year

Since it is the most lucrative time of year for design brands aimed at Chinese consumers – one of the most significant forces in world luxury consumption – an increase in motifs related to the Chinese Zodiac sign can be observed  this year. However, some layers of society, such as millenians, find some weariness in the overuse of luxury product designs, in this case with roosters.

According to figures from the National Tourism Administration of China, in 2017 a record number of trips abroad would have surpassed, for the first time 6 million, (a 7% increase over the previous year) Inside  China  the number of trips experienced a 14% increase. Spain has been one of the countries in which Chinese tourism has grown the most during this Lunar Year, and companies such as El Corte Inglés have echoed this event warmly welcoming Chinese tourists, who are currently its main foreign customers

A luxury watch for the Year of the Rooster
Among the luxury items that most elegantly adapt to the Chinese New Year symbols we highlight the watches of companies as Piaget, Patek, Jaquet Droz, Vacheron Constantin … they designed exclusive watches to celebrate the mentioned date, as was also the case with Chopard with this very elegant watch:

Chopard dedicates an annual limited series of LUC-XP watches (according to the initials of its founder Louis-Ulysse Chopard) to the Chinese zodiac, thus uniting Swiss, Chinese and Japanese traditions within these watches. Switzerland is represented by Chopard made with an ultra-fine movement and a prestigious finish. Japan expresses its experience in the field of precious lacquer, enriched with mother-of-pearl marquetry. And finally, China exhibits its culture through the symbolism of the rooster, perfectly embodied in this elegant watch.

The Chinese economy in the Year of the Rooster
The World Bank unchanged its 6.5 percent forecast for China’s economic growth in 2017 and said that this economy will maintain sustainable growth during its transition from manufacturing to services, despite concerns about the real estate market and banking industry. The Washington-based organization forecast that the Chinese economy will grow 6.5% in 2017 and 6.3% in 2018, keeping its June 2016 forecast unchanged.

Macroeconomic policies will support China’s key national growth drivers, despite declining external demand and overcapacity in some sectors, the bank said. China’s efforts to transition from industry to services and consumer investment are expected to continue to show moderate progress. According to the World Bank, China could achieve sustainable growth in the medium term and avoid a sharp slowdown if the country continues to push for additional fiscal reforms, more reforms in public enterprises, and real estate and labor market reforms. The high credit growth, accompanied by a rapid increase in the price of housing, presents important challenges for the authorities.

The World Bank also said corporate sector reforms and stricter prudent measures will help control credit growth, which will reduce macroeconomic and financial stability risks. In addition, China’s foreign direct investment seems to be stabilized, but we see an over-intervention by the Chinese authorities both to limit the volatility of their financial markets and to curb capital outflows.

Finally, we will see how it will affect the protectionist measures of Donald Trump to the Chinese economy and its currency, the remimbi, which suffered in the first days of 2017 its greater devaluation in many years. The newly inaugurated US president steadily  accused to the Chinese monetary authorities of manipulating the exchange rate.

Disclosure: The Luxonomist is not responsible for the views expressed in the article. The text has been written freely expressing their own ideas, without receiving any compensation. The author has no business relationship with any of the companies whose shares are listed in this article.