Greater China Luxury Continues to Grow

RAPAPORT... Sales of jewelry and other luxury items rose in greater Chinain the first half of the year amid continued positive consumer sentiment andincreased tourism to Hong Kong. In China, retail sales of gold, silver and jewelry grew 7%to $20.26 billion (CNY 138.3 billion) in the six months ending June 30, theNational Bureau of Statistics of China reported recently. Sales in June climbed8% to $3.24 billion (CNY 22.1 billion). Meanwhile, Hong Kong recorded a 24% jump in the first sixmonths of the year for sales of jewelry, watches, clocks and other valuablegifts to $5.53 billion (HKD 43.44 billion), according to data the Census andStatistics Department released Wednesday. Sales in the category soared 28% to$884.3 million (HKD 6.94 billion) in June. Total retail sales in all sectors for China increased 9% to$2.64 trillion (CNY 18 trillion) in the first half, and in June rose 9% to $451.71 billion(CNY 3.08 trillion). In Hong Kong, combined sales grew 13% to $31.56billion (HKD 247.76 billion) for the January-to-June period, and leapt 12% to $4.81billion (HKD 37.77 billion) in June. "Retail sales value sustained double-digit growth over ayear earlier in June, as local consumer sentiment stayed favorable amid a tightlabor market, while visitor arrivals continued to record solid growth," a HongKong government spokesperson said. The retail outlook for Hong Kong remains positive as boththe employment rate and income levels continue to flourish, and tourism maintainsits upward trend. However, the government continues to monitor "heightenedexternal uncertainties" that may have an effect on consumer spending andsentiment moving forward, the spokesperson added. In June, the total number of tourists to Hong Kong rose 13%year on year to 4.7 million, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board. Of thosevisitors, 3.6 million came from mainland China. In the first half of the year,the number of tourists rose 10% to 30.6 million, with 23.7 million of thosearriving from the mainland.