| China's luxuries imports soar in first seven months |
| 2007-09-14 05:07 |
| From:Xinhua Article type:Reproduced |
BEIJING -- The rich in China have continued stack up their status symbols despite an increased consumption tax since April last year. From January to July, the imports of luxury consumer goods rose 27.6 percent year-on-year to reach 4.85 billion U.S. dollars, according to statistics released by China Customs on Thursday. In the period, Chinese spent 4.05 billion U.S. dollars, or three quarters of the total value of imported luxury items, on 117,000 passenger vehicles with the engine size above 2.5 liters. Imports of other luxury goods, such as cigarettes, alcohol and golf balls and clubs, were all on the rise except for jewelry, which saw a slight drop of 5.7 percent. China also imported 44 yachts in the first seven months, with more than half from the U.S., while there was no record of yacht imports in the same period last year. Foreign-funded trading companies have become powerhouses for China's luxury goods imports, with an import value of 3.35 billion U.S. dollars, or almost 70 percent of China's total value of imported luxury goods. Chinese state-owned company imports of luxury goods dropped 18.7 percent to 720 million U.S. dollars while imports by private firms fell by 29.4 percent to 670 million U.S. dollars. The Ministry of Finance began levying customs duties with higher rates on luxury items, including high-grade watches, cosmetics, golf balls and clubs brought by travelers or mailed to China at the beginning of the year. This came after a consumption tax on luxury goods, such as luxury watches, golf balls and clubs, yachts, wooden floor panels in April last year. China has become the world's third largest luxury goods consumer, with its market share taking up 12 percent of the world's total by 2006. The country is expected to become the world's largest consumer of luxury items in 10 years. |
| (Source: English Site of Department of Information Technology) |
 | Macao's exports fall, imports rise in July 2007-09-03 05:13 |
| Macao's exports drop, imports rise 2007-07-30 16:41 |
| China's iron ore imports hit lowest monthly level for six months 2007-07-16 05:29 |
| Growth rate of China's crude oil imports declines in first half year 2007-07-12 06:11 |
| China encourages textile firms to innovate with tax-free component imports 2007-07-06 06:55 |
| Textile machinery imports enjoy preferential duties 2007-07-06 06:12 |
| PetroChina crude oil imports to jump on rising fuel demands 2007-07-03 05:33 |
All articles marked with "Article type: Original" posted on the website of the Ministry of Commerce and its sub-sites are copyrighted by this Website and its sub-sites. Any reproduction or use by any other websites, media or individuals must be attached with a clear indication of "Source: Ministry of Commerce Website".
All articles posted on this website or its sub-sites marked with "Article type: reproduced" or "Article type: translated" and "Article type: redistributed" come from other media, and are provided solely for the user's information, which does not mean this Website or its sub-sites endorse the ideas thereof or assume any legal liability or responsibility for their authenticity. Any other media, websites or individuals must maintain the source of information indication on this Website or its sub-sites when using the information, and shall assume legal liability for the use.
