China now has its own luxury brands. The four brands Feitian (Moutai spirit), Yong-Qi Zitan (furniture), Rongbaozhai (works of art) and Dongding Oolong (tea) were released as the first Chinese luxury brands by the China Luxury Institute on Nov. 11.
Based on the Institute’s investigation of over 500 enterprises and brands within over 30 kinds of industries like garments, tea, wine, china and jade, in combination with market questionnaire, the first four brands have made their debut.
The release is seen as a start for China’s luxury brands to go global and a new era for the luxury industry.
China is expected to replace Japan as the world’s top consumer of luxury goods by 2012 due to its growing demand, the World Luxury Association(WLA) was quoted as saying by Xin- hua News Agency.
According to WLA, the luxury goods sales value in the Chinese market will hit 14.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2012 (excluding private jets, yachts and luxury cars). That would be an increase from 10.7 billion U.S. dollars in a 13-month period from February 2010 to March this year.
“China’s luxury brands signal pride, confidence and impetus of ‘Made in China’. The release is in line with the general trend of the domestic luxury market and the future prospects,” said Cai Sujian, president of the China Luxury Institute.
Along with the release, the standards of the luxury brands was also published based on domestic and foreign experts’ views. The luxury brands have to comply with strict standards of judgemnet such as brand recognition in China, representing national image, leading in industry technology, unique in regional culture, compatible with international culture, etc.
“The introduction of the standards is aimed at enriching the image of ‘Made in China’, changing the old view of Chinese luxury industry and helping Chinese luxury brands to go global by showcasing Chinese top craftsmanship,” said Cai.
Not only were the top 500 companies in China considered for the selection of the first luxury brands, some outstanding medium and small businesses were also involved. YongQi Zitan Furniture Gallery based in Nantong City of East China’s Jiangsu Province is an example. The company has only existed less than 20 years and started as a family workshop. It has since developed into a top brand which produces products of great quality with its Chinese traditional craftwork.
“We do believe there is opportunity for Chinese luxury products to be sold overseas. The important thing is that the products sold in the UK or Europe should comply with the international standard,” said an official from the UK Embassy in China.
“China’s luxury brands represent China’s unique history and rich culture. For going global, Chinese entrepreneurs should attach more importance to strategic marketing, and meanwhile the media should do more for the building of these brands,” said Luo Chuan, Executive Secretary of the China Luxury Institute.
The China Luxury Institute is a civil association based in Hongkong. The selection of the brands was independent from public advice and enterprises’ self-recommendation.