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China to Be Top Luxury Buyer by 2020 Move over America and Japan, China’s taking over the luxury limelight. Adapted From the WSJ; February 5, 2011

A Chinese man works on the shop front of a luxury brand store in a shopping district in Beijing, China, Oct. 14 2010. A new report predicts China will become the world’s top consumer of luxury goods by 2020. China is poised to become the world’s largest market for luxury goods by 2020, according to a new report from investment research group CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets. With fatter paychecks and stronger desires to display new wealth, Chinese consumers are building their appetites for designer handbags, watches and clothing. They’re pushing up profits at high-end retailers, such as Louis Vuitton and Hermès, and are expected to carve out in the next decade a US$101 billion luxury market by the end of this decade, the report said. Chinese consumers are also becoming the world leaders in purchasing fine wines, including the the most expensive offerings from the most famous French Chateaux: Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Margaux, Château Petrus, and Domaine de la Romanée Conti.

To put that in perspective, that’s $32 billion more than what U.S. consumers, who still lead high-end purchases, spent on luxury last year, according to CLSA. It also exceeds last year’s spending in Japan, long known as the world’s main driver of growth in luxury consumption, by more than $68 billion. By 2020, the luxury market world-wide should be worth $523 billion, CSLA says, meaning China would represent nearly 20% of the global total.