The future of luxury? In less rich China

According to a recent analysis conducted by Jing Daily, the interest in China's luxury comes from the poorer classes than from the more affluent ones.

The context of growing economic and social inequality in China, in fact, does not seem to reflect a halt to high-end goods. The urban elite and the Chinese billionaires join millions of people who have not benefited from the industrialization of the last twenty years and, according to the International Monetary Fund, China has become "one of the most unequal regions in the world", with 43 million people living on less than 95 cents a day, or the poverty threshold set by the Government.

Status that has long been generating doubts about the world of luxury, which questions the actual scope of the market in China. According to Jing Daily, however, the race for luxury goods comes in large part precisely from the less wealthy social classes, their own because they are the ones who see in these goods a way of emancipation from their situation, aiming at that of the most wealthy.

A long-standing social phenomenon, as shown by the Federal Board of Reserve, which has discovered a real connection between the lower American social classes and the purchase of "symbol goods" including expensive machines and branded accessories, used for disguise the social position and give an impression of well-being.

In China, the analysis takes as a reference the data of Bain & Company on consumption highlighting the growth on the domestic luxury market which grew by 20% a year in 2017 and 2018, reaching 23 billion dollars. A more dynamic purchasing force than abroad. Basically, this means that more limited resources do not limit the appetite for the world of luxury and its products. On the contrary, they stimulate it, with the result that social stratification does not seem to have a negative impact on their consumption.