Part I: Luxury brands and the retail sector in China

By Nick Debnam & George Svinos, KPMG

Foreign companies share a growing interest in tapping into China’s luxury market. Statistics show not only that the number of wealthy people is growing fast in China, but that their willingness to spend on big-ticket items is also on the rise, driven by an appetite for status as well as the comforts and trappings of luxury products.

China’s economy grew 10.3 percent in the first quarter of 2006 from the year earlier, overtaking the United Kingdom to become the world’s fourth largest economy. According to a preliminary estimation by the National Bureau of Statistics in China, the GDP of China in the first half of 2006 was RMB 9.144 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 10.9 percent. Total retail sales of consumer goods for the first half of 2006 also experienced significant growth, reaching RMB 3.644 trillion, a year-on-year rise of 13.3 percent. Overall, China’s retail sales have been rising at their fastest pace as increasing incomes spur spending on cars, furniture and electronics.(4) Read the rest of “Luxury Brands in China” or post a comment

By Dylan Blankenship

“Private label products or services are typically those manufactured or provided by one company for offer under another company’s brand.” –Wikipedia. This is the name of the game for China and for the most part, the products you buy here in the United States are not really manufactured by the name on the label. In some instances most of the big box or clothing stores you frequent have an inventory almost entirely made up of their own products under their own brand or multiple unaffiliated brands. This is not just a game for the big boys, this can be accomplished with the same everyday products under your own company’s label. Welcome to the club, we are about to pull back the curtain to reveal what you need to know in developing your own private labeled line of products.

Take notice that every manufacturer has its own guidelines, requirements and procedures for producing a private label product. Not all manufacturers offer this service or have the capability to laser-etch/carve logos etc. The first step is to source the product you like and then follow-up with the manufacturer opening a dialog about private label opportunities.

Read the rest of “Private Labeling & Criteria for Selecting the Right Manufacturer” or post a comment

China’s growing population of over 1.3 billion potential consumers, coupled with their rapidly growing disposable income, is becoming a huge marketplace for products protected by intellectual property laws (IP). The disposable income of Beijing urban residents reached 17,653 yuan per capita (over $2,200 USD) in 2005. China has also become one of the world’s main manufacturing bases for products protected by IP laws. Further, China’s GDP reached over $8 trillion (USD) in 2005, based on…

Read the rest of “Recent Developments and Routes for Enforcing Intellectual Property Rights in China” or post a comment >>

By Aaron Wininger and Peiyu Sun

China’s growing population of over 1.3 billion potential consumers, coupled with their rapidly growing disposable income, is becoming a huge marketplace for products protected by intellectual property laws (IP). The disposable income of Beijing urban residents reached 17,653 yuan per capita (over $2,200 USD) in 2005. China has also become one of the world’s main manufacturing bases for products protected by IP laws. Further, China’s GDP reached over $8 trillion (USD) in 2005, based on purchasing power parity. As such, based on these numbers alone, the opportunity, occurrences, and profitability of IP infringement in China is steadily on the rise.

According to recent postings by the United States Embassy in Beijing, China is the number one source of counterfeit goods seized by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. However, targets of IP piracy and infringement are not just U.S. or foreign companies, but also Chinese companies. For example, on a recent visit to street corner in Shanghai, DVDs of movies currently playing in theaters worldwide were available for 4 yuan (about 53 cents, U.S.). With some haggling, volume purchase discounts appeared possible. Bootleg DVDs included recently released American films such as “Transformers” and “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer,” as well as many popular, recent Hong Kong movies. Since the main market for Read the rest of “Recent Developments and Routes for Enforcing Intellectual Property Rights in China” or post a comment