Growing wealth in China is fuelling its residents’ spending habits, but what exactly are they splashing out on? In order to gain insight into the lifestyles of this burgeoning consumer class, the Hurun Research Institute asked The mainland’s big spenders to reveal their “shopping lists”.

The Chinese Luxury Consumer Survey 2013, released by the HRI last week, revealed the gifting and personal investment expenditures of moneyed Chinese consumers, highlighting their the lifestyle and brand preferences.

Gifting

Gifting is an important part of the Chinese culture - how much you spend on a gesture, how you wrap it, and how you present it are equally important.

“This year, there is a clear trend towards gifting more modestly-priced top luxury goods,”Hurun report founder and chief researcher, Rupert Hoogewerf, said.

China’s love for labels is still evident. Luxury brands such as Gucci, Montblanc and Burberry performed particularly well this year, ranking among the “Top 10” for gifting.

According to the survey, French items dominated the list of preferred gifts - French wine maker, Chateau Lafite, was the only drinks-brand to make the “Top 10” brands for gifting, a clear representation of the Chinese luxury consumers’ new-found love of wine. According to Rickesh Kishnani, managing director of Platinum Wines, a Hong-Kong based fine wine merchant, the first six months of 2012 saw 200 million litres of wine imported to China, an increase of 24 per cent over the same period in 2011.

Moutai, a Chinese liquor producer and the only Chinese brand to make the list of preferred brands, struggled this year, falling to thirteenth place in the “Preferred Brands for Gifting”, down from fifth last year. This drop in popularity came on the back of a public debate about whether government officials, the largest customer base for Moutai, should be allowed to consume a brand which is effectively a luxury brand with its main product retailing at RMB1,800 a bottle (around $290), and also a health scare involving the use of plasticisers.

The luxury watch industry has had a tough year, “perhaps brought on by bad PR for the industry following cases involving financial irregularities of government officials and watch ownership”, the report speculated. Swiss watchmaker Longines was the only watch brand to make the list, coming in at fifteenth place, and replacing the Rolex brand, which dropped off the list altogether this year.

Apple moved up to second place for “Preferred Brands for Gifting by Men”, from fourth place last year. Louis Vuitton and Chanel were top for preferred brands for men and women respectively.

Personal Investments

In terms of general confidence regarding the future of the economy, 25 per cent of respondents said they are extremely confident - even though this number has fallen to a four year low, Hurun said the figure is still surprising considering confidence levels in Europe and the US. Those who responded “not confident” rose this year to 9 per cent.

According to the report, property is still the key personal investment option for most surveyed (over 60 per cent), despite increased government control on property purchases and a generally poor market. In its recent 2013 outlook, asset manager Schroders said property markets are well supported, despite a sluggish global economic backdrop, owing to forthcoming supply shortages, liquid Asian markets and access to cheap debt capital.

When asked about collectables, one in three respondents classified themselves as watch collectors, which is still by far the most popular collectible, however, this does represent a significant fall in popularity compared to three years ago, where one in three collected watches. The popularity of contemporary art collection continues its downward trend, falling in position again this year.

Meanwhile, trophy property collection is on the up and is considered by a growing number of Chinese luxury consumers to be an essential jewel in their collection portfolio.

Travel ranked as the number one leisure activity, with European holiday destinations, including London and Switzerland, topping the charts. However, Chinese super-rich are going overseas less – 3.4 times a year compared to 4.2 the year before. Sanya (Hainan province, China) was named the most preferred holiday home destination.

Finally, tax is still considered the best way to be socially responsible, and environmental concerns are still important, especially among respondents who are over 45, the survey found.