BBC News - No rules for the rich How Ch

But, as Alun Griffiths puts it: "As a wine lover it's a horror story, but you've got to let people do what they want with what they buy.

LVMH - Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton - is the world's biggest luxury brand company with more than 50 of the best-known in its stable.

So the Little Emperors grew up with as many resources as could be mustered by their parents - at the same time as the economy shifted from communism to capitalism.

Donald Holdsworth, director of MatchPower in Australia, has been fascinated by China's growing love affair with luxury since the 1990s.

Why does he think the desire for luxury goods has seized the Chinese mind so firmly?

That, says Donald Holdsworth, sheds further light on Chinese tastes: "If you've grown up in a conformist society where there's no freedom of speech, once a chance appears for you to express yourself without danger you are going to take it.

According to Barclays Capital, the country now buys 12% of the world's luxury goods.

Here was a selection of some of the best-known fine wines in the world. Chateau Lafite 1962, Chateau Latour 1970 - bottles that cost in the region of $1,600 (?1,000) each.

Little emperors

Others with growing profits in the region include Burberry and German carmaker Audi, whose latest sharp rise in profits were thanks in part to a strong growth in sales of luxury cars in China.

The recent growth in the market is pointed up in sharp detail by Berry Bros and Rudd, the upmarket wine merchants.

The answer, he thinks, is rooted in demographics: "The average age of a Chinese millionaire is 39 - that's 15 years younger than in the developed world.

A research report from Barclays says this is set to grow by 20-30% a year. It means in five years' time China could be buying a third of the global luxury goods ouput.

"Chateau Lafite sounds well to the Chinese ear, in a way that other Bordeaux wines don't. That may change,, but it is the label they are choosing for the moment."

Easy on the ear

And then there is Gucci, which has pushed hard in China and has some 40 outlets across a string of Chinese cities.

Chinese tastes are likely to evolve, as has happened elsewhere.

"It's like unscrewing the top from a bottle of fizzy water,louis vuitton outlet

Rich keep spending Showing off

Mr Griffiths says the wine is not necessarily bought for its taste, as the opening paragraph of this piece fully illustrates, but the name is important, too.

It is a memorable anecdote. But it is also instructive, because it illustrates the way China's new rich approach established luxury goods.

He then indicated a vast silver punchbowl and ordered: "Gentlemen, pour your wine," which they did - into the punchbowl.

"Until then it will be a market that wants to show off."

11 May 2011Last updated at 23:03 GMT

No rules for the rich: How China spends its new wealth

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There are around half a million Chinese millionaires, 31% more than in 2008, according to the most recent Merrill Lynch Cap Gemini World Wealth Report.

The host then called: "Gentlemen, uncork your bottle," which they did.

As the country sucks up more and more of the world's luxury goods production, producers are growing in their understanding of Chinese tastes.

"After all, there are no rules for being rich."

Prada is also exploring other ways of accessing China's wealth. Like other firms it is considering raising money by issuing shares via the Hong Kong stock exchange.

A group of Chinese businessmen arranged to meet up one evening for a drink. They were asked to bring their best bottle of wine.

That is a staggering growth rate, but if you look at the increase in the number of millionaires it is not hard to see how it could rise so fast.

Five years ago that figure was barely 6%.

"That will probably eventually happen in China, as it has in Japan, where they still love their luxury brands but in a less obvious display of wealth.

BMW, which also owns the Rolls-Royce brand, almost quadrupled its first-quarter profits thanks in part to increased demand from China.

It joins a long list of leading luxury brands whose profits have been spurred by demand there.

Wine buying director Alun Griffiths says the Chinese wine market has been growing by 15-20% a year and his firm now does 25% of its business in Hong Kong.

"It happens to coincide with the start of the one-child-per-person policy - the year of the Little Emperors. These children were given the very best by their parents."

Chinese tastes are certainly high-end; Bordeaux, which makes some of the most expensive fine wines in the world, is a favourite. But only a few chateaux seem to interest them.

That desire is just as well for the largely European producers of luxury goods.

Big names are key to wealthy Chinese buyers, in part because the market is new.

Overall, LVMH already makes about 40% of its profits from the country.

Unlike China's middle class, which is suffering from high inflation, the rich feel no such drag upon their lifestyle.

Meantime, tales of fine wines in a punchbowl - or mixed with 7-Up or Coca-Cola - will doubtless continue to circulate.

Here's a story an upmarket wine merchant told me about a particularly memorable - and potentially instructive - evening.

The mingled contents of some of the most distinctive clarets in the world were then ladled out between them.

Donald Holdsworth says if one looks at the UK market of the 1980s, Rolls-Royce cars were the favourite of the rich, giving way to the slightly more restrained Bentley, and these days to the less showy Audis and Mercedes.

On arrival, the host said: "Gentlemen, show your wines," and the guests presented their bottles for each other's approval.