令人心憂的“奢侈品世界第二”

?????? 中國目前已成為全球豪華汽車購買力最強的國家之一，眾多豪華車紛紛搶灘中國市場。最新統計顯示，寶馬集團全球銷量同比下降19%，但在華銷量同比增長26%。

???????在金融危機使歐美日奢侈品牌需求普遍萎縮時，中國奢侈品市場卻依然向好。目前中國奢侈品消費已占全球市場的25%，首次超過美國成為世界第二大奢侈品消費國。

???????奢侈是富裕的產物。中國人在奢侈品市場上一擲千金甚至讓發達國家的富豪都目瞪口呆。這確實是一件很長臉的事兒，不過，我們心里還得有數——應該承認，這個“世界第二”并不值得驕傲。

???????據世界奢侈品協會統計，2007年中國奢侈品消費人群占總人口的比例為13%，這與中國“20%的人占有80%財富”的財富分配結構基本吻合。因此，在面對中國的奢侈品消費者時，我們也應想到中國還有數千萬日均消費不足1美元的貧困人口。而中國奢侈品消費的快速增長，可能也正是中國貧富差距進一步拉大的表現。一方面很多人還在為溫飽而發愁，另一方面卻有很多人窮奢極欲，這種強烈的反差不能不讓人唏噓。

???????眾所周知，內需不足一直是中國經濟的軟肋。尤其是去年金融危機爆發以來，我國出臺的很多措施都是為了拉動內需，可是奢侈品消費拉動的卻是一些發達國家的“外需”，因為奢侈品基本上都是國外企業生產的。因此，中國的奢侈品消費躍居世界前列，在我看來，不是什么好事。

（來源：齊魯晚報 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)