CRI听力: Shopping Abroad

Anchor: More people are choosing to do most of their luxury shopping abroad, resulting in a huge market setback, and this is not only happening in the higher-paid crowd. The trend is being seen amongst white collar workers as well.

Reporter:

Like a fashion trend, spending money shopping abroad is becoming a national phenomenon amongst middle-class working people in big Chinese cities. (www.hXen.com)

Miss Wang is a senior supervisor at a local company. She says all her cosmetics and almost all her purses and bags were bought overseas.

"Singapore and Hong Kong, those are the places I do some of my shopping, I go shopping in Hong Kong two or three times a year."

Miss Wang says she shops mostly for clothes, purses and cosmetics and she spends an average of 50 to 60-thousand yuan per year on such items. Most of those purchases happen in Hong Kong. Relatively cheap prices are the main reason.

"I think I can save a considerable amount of money shopping this way. Take Hong Kong for example. There is a currency difference to start with, and a huge cut in custom tax, it is at least 20% off compared to shopping in Beijing."

Although the amount spent on shopping might seem less, the extra traveling fees have to be taken into consideration.

"Spending 3,000 yuan on air tickets and hotel in Hong Kong means you're enjoying the traveling lifestyle as well as the shopping, and I always get products that aren't seen in Beijing, it's much more cost-effective all things considered."

Senior researcher Jing Linbo from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences says it is not surprising that people choose to shop abroad when the Chinese custom tax doubles the product's retail price.

"A purse costs around 800 euros in Paris will cost some 200,000 yuan in Beijing, so despite the travel fees, people are still benefiting from shopping abroad."

Official statistics show it has become a phenomenon in big inland cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, for people to travel to other countries for their local "shopping seasons". In 2008 Chinese shoppers spent more then 9 million yuan in Japan alone in a week of its shopping season. Almost a 20% rise from the previous year.

"People who shop abroad in a concentrated period have raised questions about whether the government's policy to control domestic consumption of luxurious products is effective. And if not, how do we lead those shoppers to stay in China to shop."

Almost all luxury brands have their own stores in China. The reason people still don't buy them at home is simple.

"Price is still the key, also freshness in the fashion sense as well. Most fashion brands chose Europe to be their first markets for their newest products."

Although Chinese retailers are internationally post ordering the newest products to meet with the customer's demands, custom tax continues to keep prices high. To prevent expenditure floating abroad, the government needs more efficient policies.

For China Drive, I'm Yajie.