Millionaires in China like Louis Vuitton gifts best

LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA is the favorite brand of Chinese millionaires buying gifts for friends and business contacts, according to Hurun Report Inc.

About one in seven millionaires will choose to give a present from Louis Vuitton, Hurun said in survey results released in an emailed statement yesterday.

Cartier Ltd. was the second-most favorite brand, picked by about 1 in 10 respondents, followed by Hermes International, Shanghai-based Hurun said.

Demand for luxury goods in China has risen in line with an increase in wealth and growth in the world’s second-biggest economy.

The number of millionaire households in the country climbed 31 percent in 2010 to 1.11 million, ranking China third behind the U.S. and Japan, according to a Boston Consulting Group survey released last year.

“Gift-giving is an essential part of Chinese culture,” Hurun Report Chairman Rupert Hoogewerf said in the statement. “The money spent on gifting, especially at Chinese New Year, is staggering compared with the West.”

Hurun, which also compiles an annual China Rich List, surveyed 503 mainland Chinese millionaires for the “Top 10 Gifts for the Chinese Luxury Consumer 2012” survey.

Each had a personal wealth of at least 10 million yuan ($1.6 million), with 54 having 100 million yuan or more, the company said.

China had 960,000 individuals with a personal wealth of no less than 10 million yuan each, Hurun said in a report in April.

Kweichow Moutai Co., maker of the 106-proof liquor used by Mao Zedong’s Red Army to disinfect wounds, ranked fifth and was the only domestic brand featured. Apple Inc. placed sixth, the only U.S. brand and consumer-electronics company on the list.