London Luxury Quarter aims for rich Chinese

Flags for luxury brands hang in New Bond Street, in London. China is the world's second-largest consumer of luxury goods, after the United States, according to Bain and Company. [Photo / Agencies]

SHANGHAI - London Luxury Quarter (LLQ), a new luxury shopping district promoted by United Kingdom-based New West End Co, is targeting rich Chinese to support future growth.

Chinese consumers are expected to spend 260 million pounds ($421 million) in the LLQ in 2011, boosted by the recent royal wedding and the annual birthday celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II. Sales are expected to increase 30 percent from last year.

LLQ said its annual growth rate is projected to hover around 30 percent in the next five years.

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"Chinese retail tourists play an integral part in maintaining a buoyant retail economy in the West End. The offer on Bond Street, Regent Street and the surrounding area is a huge draw for international visitors and we expect tourist numbers to peak in 2012 when London will host the Olympics and the planned celebrations of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee," said Jace Tyrrell, director of LLQ.

LLQ plans to offer tour services including hotel arrangements and exclusive shopping tours to Chinese consumers. For exclusive services, a tour guide will be assigned to groups of up to four people.

Tyrrell said that Chinese consumers spent about 600 pounds for each transaction in LLQ in 2010, a 155 percent increase from 2009.

LLQ was established in 2010 to support the growth of New West End. LLQ covers the key areas of Bond Street, Mount Street, Jermyn Street and Savile Row to bring together 300 retailers into a new luxury-shopping district. It was intended to be one of the largest retailing districts in the world.

The increasing purchasing power of Chinese consumers has boosted the global development of the luxury industry.

Figures from Global Blue, a company specializing in providing services for international shopping and spending, suggested that Chinese consumers contributed 300 million pounds to the UK economy in 2010, a 10-fold increase from 30 million pounds in 2007.

The growing purchasing power of Chinese consumers hasn't gone unnoticed. The British media coined "Peking Pounds" to describe the Chinese buying power.

China is the world's second -largest consumer of luxury goods, after the United States, according to the consultants Bain and Company.

Li Xinzhu contributed to this story.