Toys for big boys

Exhibitors at the recent Hainan Rendez-Vous luxury show offering items from yachts to aircraft to cars say the sky's the limit when dealing with wealthy Chinese customers. Provided to China Daily

Li Qun was one of China's wealthy who was not trying to hide from the spotlight at the show.

The 43-year-old owner of Muyangjun, a feng shui consultancy, and also film production and magazine businesses in Guangzhou, cut a flamboyant figure in his sailor's cap.

"I would describe myself as more middle class than rich," he says.

Nonetheless, he was looking to splash out 3 million yuan on a yacht at the show.

"I would prefer to have a yacht than a second home here, " he says. "I would use it to entertain customers and also for my staff to use as well."

Although relatively wealthy himself, he finds some of the excesses of China's super rich too much to take.

"I think too many of them care about their face and showing off. I don't really think many of them care much for society itself."

Jean-Pierre Heim, who runs Jean-Pierre Heim and Associates, based in Shanghai, Paris and New York and who was exhibiting, says the sky is the limit when dealing with some of his wealthy customers. He undertakes major interior design commissions.

"Sometimes they actually say that there is no limit. They might specify a Louis XI desk which alone will be 10,000 euros," he says.

"I had one customer who wanted Baccarat chandeliers but didn't want to buy them in either Beijing or Shanghai so he flew to Paris instead and paid perhaps 100,000 euros."

It was in this spirit perhaps that the Hotel Majestic Barriere, one of the main hotels for the Cannes Film Festival, was trying to attract Chinese interest in its 38,000 euro-a-night Christian Dior suite.

Chinese film stars such as Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi have already been guests of the hotel.

"We haven't had other Chinese staying there yet but who knows after this exhibition," says general manager Emmanuel Caux.

"We have had many more Chinese tourists to Cannes recently. They like to gamble and like our company's more classy casinos and I think they like also the French joie de vive."

Many exhibitors insist, however, the notion that Chinese buyers just threw their money around was far from the mark.

Doug Rumsam, managing director in Hong Kong of London-based wine merchant Bordeaux Index, says anyone selling luxury products would go seriously wrong in China if they thought that.