A salesperson shows a customer the limited edition launched by a cosmetic brand to welcome the Year of the Tiger at a duty-free store in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 15, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhou Huimin)
HAIKOU, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- As the Chinese Lunar New Year approaches, global luxury brands are launching limited edition products to welcome the Year of the Tiger.
Most of the limited edition items highlight the image of the tiger, one of the 12 Chinese Zodiac animals, and some others feature Chinese elements like the color red and Peking Opera.
At the duty-free stores in south China's island province of Hainan, tiger elements and red can be seen almost everywhere. Limited edition luxury Lunar New Year items are a big hit, covering cosmetics, clothing, bags, watches, and wine, among others.
"For the upcoming Year of the Tiger, Armani has launched limited edition products including jackets and woolen sweaters, which are selling well," said Yang Qiulin, a salesman of Emporio Armani in a duty-free store in Haikou, capital of Hainan.
The stock of down jackets has already started to dwindle after hitting the shelves only a few days ago, he added.
Li Chao, a tourist from east China's Zhejiang Province, bought a limited edition eye cream with red packaging featuring a tiger at the Estee Lauder counter.
"It looks very festive, and conveys a feeling of the Chinese Spring Festival," she said, noting that the launching of limited editions will meet the demands of Chinese consumers.
China is an increasingly important market for global luxury brands, especially when they suffered unprecedented difficulties due to the pandemic.
The Bain & Company Luxury Study 2021 showed that since 2019, the Chinese mainland's share of the global market has almost doubled, reaching 60 billion euros in 2021.
Zodiac elements are an important part of traditional Chinese culture. The deep exploration of Chinese traditional culture by international luxury brands reflects that they try to cater to Chinese consumers' demand and integrate into the huge Chinese market, said Liu Feng, a researcher with Hainan Normal University.
The duty-free market is an important market for luxury goods consumption. Hainan reported 49.5 billion yuan (7.8 billion U.S. dollars) of offshore duty-free shopping in 2021, up 80 percent year on year.
More than 81 million domestic and overseas tourists visited Hainan in 2021, up 25.5 percent year on year, data shows.
China aims to build Hainan into an international tourism and consumption center by 2025 and a globally influential tourism and consumption destination by 2035. ■
A salesperson shows the limited edition launched by Emporio Armani to welcome the Year of the Tiger at a duty-free store in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 15, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhou Huimin)
