By Karen Cho (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-12-06 07:35

HONG KONG: Mainland middle class women's growing appetite for luxury goods is a major force driving the consumption market, a recent survey found.

Women shoppers select the luxury Louis Vuitton luggage at the first franchise store in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province, July 25, 2007. [newsphoto]

HSBC, Fudan University and MasterCard Worldwide jointly conducted a survey on the spending patterns of the mainland's increasingly affluent middle class. It found that 85 percent of women respondents said they have purchased luxury goods and place significant emphasis on quality.

In addition to modern women, double-income couples without children make up another demographic set to drive mainland consumption. The study showed these middle class families on average dine out 3.3 nights a week for leisure.

"The number of middle-class households are expected to swell to 100 million by 2016 from 35 million today," said Fudan University Professor Lu Xiongwen.

With discretionary spending of middle class households expected to increase to $380 billion within the next 10 years, Lu said that it would be an important force behind the mainland's budding consumption market.

However, despite higher household incomes, economic adviser for MasterCard worldwide Yuwa Hedrick-Wong said the mainland's middle class is still under-spending.

"When you compare the mainland with India, you will find that even though the mainland's average household income is 250 percent more than Indian families', they are only spending 67 percent more," Hedrick-Wong said. He believes the potential for growth in mainland consumption to be huge.