Chinese Millionaires Go Shopping

April 28, 2011 at 9:00 PM UTC

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This article is part of the May 2, 2011 issue of businessweek.

China now has 960,000 millionaires, up 9.7 percent from the previous year, according to a survey released on Apr. 12 by the Shanghai-based , which tracks China's affluent, and market researcher GroupM Knowledge. The rich are paying top dollar for their toys and trinkets.

Racing Pigeons. reported in mid-January that a Chinese buyer in Belgium paid €156,000 ($229,000) for a racing pigeon named Blue Prince at auction, setting a world record.

Tibetan Mastiffs. These guard dogs are in demand. A local website, qingdaonews.com, says a Chinese coal magnate spent ¥10m ($1.5 million) in March for a Tibetan mastiff named Sensation (Hong Dong in Chinese).

Aged Liquor. Xinhua news agency says two decades-old bottles of Moutai and Wuliangye were auctioned for $224,000 and $782,000.

White Jade. At a March auction a Chinese bidder paid $18m for a jade seal once used by Emperor Qianlong.

Data: GroupM Knowledge—, , Xinhua News Agency, Belgian Embassy in Beijing