No let-up in lure of luxury lines

Shopping ambitions are supported by growing wealth accumulation in China. Ipsos said the number of high-net-worth individuals - those with liquid assets of more than 6 million yuan - in China doubled from 2008 to 2011. Currently there are approximately 2.7 million such people in China, with 630,000 of them having liquid assets of more than 100 million yuan.

Chinese women are becoming more shrewd, using diversified channels to purchase luxury products.

In 2012, China's luxury goods consumption reached $46 billion, of which $27.1 billion was spent overseas. That can be attributed to high taxes on luxury goods in China, more overseas travel by Chinese people, various sales promotions in overseas markets as well as developed and convenient e-commerce, said Zhou.

During last year, a large part of the surveyed 4,043 Chinese mainland citizens had traveled overseas. Most of them chose Asia. Hong Kong was the most popular destination for mainland people: It was chosen by 70 percent of those surveyed. The second choice was Europe, then the United States.

Statistics from the China National Tourism Administration show that during the week-long Spring Festival (starting from Feb 9), 4 million Chinese traveled abroad, 90 percent of them headed to Asian destinations, including Thailand, Singapore and South Korea.

However, US officials say Chinese tourists now represent the fastest-growing visiting group with numbers expected to double within the next three years.

Given the depreciation of the euro and the US dollar, more Chinese people are expected to travel to destinations using those currencies or ones pegged to them in 2013 and over the coming years, said Zhou.

Wan said she had so far only traveled overseas to Thailand and Hong Kong and expects to visit the US this summer. "I have heard the reduction in prices of luxury goods is rather huge at the end of every season and special festivals," she said, adding that she hopes to buy a Tiffany necklace there, the home of the luxury jewelry brand.

liujie@chinadaily.com.cn