Xinhua published an article stating that the hefty import tariffs imposed on mid to high end products and the fact that tax free product development lags behind have caused the growth in the number of Chinese people shopping overseas. The article said that the trend does not help to improve China’s domestic consumption; nor does it ease domestic economic pressure. The article stated that, among 20 luxury consumable goods, the prices on the Mainland are 45 percent higher than Hong Kong, 51 percent higher than the US and 72 percent higher than France. The result is that, during the current week long national holidays, the number of Chinese people shopping overseas has increased dramatically. The statistics showed that Chinese people spend an average of 20,000 yuan (US$3,255) overseas on each trip with 58 percent of their spending going toward shopping.
Source: Xinhua, October 5, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2014-10/05/c_127065170.htm