令人心忧的“奢侈品世界第二”

       中国目前已成为全球豪华汽车购买力最强的国家之一，众多豪华车纷纷抢滩中国市场。最新统计显示，宝马集团全球销量同比下降19%，但在华销量同比增长26%。

       在金融危机使欧美日奢侈品牌需求普遍萎缩时，中国奢侈品市场却依然向好。目前中国奢侈品消费已占全球市场的25%，首次超过美国成为世界第二大奢侈品消费国。

       奢侈是富裕的产物。中国人在奢侈品市场上一掷千金甚至让发达国家的富豪都目瞪口呆。这确实是一件很长脸的事儿，不过，我们心里还得有数——应该承认，这个“世界第二”并不值得骄傲。

       据世界奢侈品协会统计，2007年中国奢侈品消费人群占总人口的比例为13%，这与中国“20%的人占有80%财富”的财富分配结构基本吻合。因此，在面对中国的奢侈品消费者时，我们也应想到中国还有数千万日均消费不足1美元的贫困人口。而中国奢侈品消费的快速增长，可能也正是中国贫富差距进一步拉大的表现。一方面很多人还在为温饱而发愁，另一方面却有很多人穷奢极欲，这种强烈的反差不能不让人唏嘘。

       众所周知，内需不足一直是中国经济的软肋。尤其是去年金融危机爆发以来，我国出台的很多措施都是为了拉动内需，可是奢侈品消费拉动的却是一些发达国家的“外需”，因为奢侈品基本上都是国外企业生产的。因此，中国的奢侈品消费跃居世界前列，在我看来，不是什么好事。

（来源：齐鲁晚报 作者：盛大林）

A cause for concern: The world's second largest luxury consumer

China has become one of the world's largest consumers of luxury cars, and many luxury automakers are racing to grab a piece of the market share. The latest statistics show that while BMW Group's global vehicle sales decreased by 19 percent, compared with the same period last year, its sales in China increased by 26 percent, according to the Qilu Evening News.

When the financial crisis put a damper on European, American and Japanese demand for luxury brands, the Chinese market for luxury goods remained stable. At present China's consumption of luxury goods accounts for 25 percent of the global market, for the first time exceeding that of the United States, making China the second largest luxury consumer in the world.

Luxury is a product of wealth. Chinese extravagance on luxury goods has shocked even the wealthiest people in developed countries. While this may be a sign of increasing wealth in China, objectively speaking, we must admit that in this case, being ranked "world No. 2" is not something to be proud of.

Statistics from the World Luxury Association indicate that in 2007, China's luxury consumer population accounted for 13 percent of the total population, almost exactly matching China's distribution of wealth – often described as "20 percent of the population owning 80 percent of the (nation's) wealth." Thus, when we consider the Chinese luxury goods consumer, we need to also think about the tens of millions of underprivileged people in the country who consume less than US$1 per day. Moreover, the rapid growth of China's luxury goods consumption poses the possibility of a further enlarged gap between the rich and the poor. On the one hand, many worry about meeting food and clothing needs, while on the other hand many others live in excessive luxury. One cannot help but sigh at the inequality.

As we all know, insufficient domestic demand has always been a weak spot in China's economy. Ever since the financial crisis erupted last year, China has taken many measures to stimulate domestic demand. Luxury consumption, however, serves to increase the overseas market demand of developed countries, as luxury goods are in general produced by overseas enterprises. Therefore, jumping to the top of the list of luxury consumers, in my view, is not a good thing.

(China.org.cn translated by Zhou Jing, September 28, 2009)