New site promotes French luxury labels in China

PARIS — A new Web site launched Thursday gives China's 1.3 billion people a chance to ogle French luxury, from designer clothing to diamond-dripping watches and glittering gold jewelry, as part of a bid by French houses to tap into the Asian giant's growing hunger for high-end goods.
In a lavish ceremony at the Chinese embassy's commercial section in Paris, the heads of Christian Dior, Chanel and dozens of other French labels celebrated the launch of the site, http://www.cColbert.cn.
The site, which is in Chinese, English and French, was developed by the Comite Colbert — a Paris-based organization that represents some 70 French brands — and Sina, China's leading Internet provider, with some 260 million users, a statement said.
In the past, the French luxury labels represented by the Comite Colbert tended to see China — the world's manufacturing hub and a top producer and consumer of counterfeit goods — as something of a foe. But Chinese consumers' ever-growing buying power and appetite for high-end goods have made the country the holy grail for luxury purveyors in France and beyond.
The site features lavish, 3-D photos of French luxury products, from designer clothing and jewelry to high-end hotels and restaurants. The idea is just to whet consumers' appetite for the pricey products and services, because the site doesn't allow for Internet purchases.
China's ambassador in France, Kong Quan, highlighted how recent changes in the country — with its rapidly rising standard of living and population of 1.3 billion — have made it luxury's new El Dorado.
"Do you realize that 30 years ago, the three treasures in a Chinese household were a bike, a watch and perhaps a sewing machine?" asked Kong. "Today 1 million cars per month are sold in China and the car is no longer considered a treasure."
"I am convinced of French brands' ability to constantly create new high-end products that please Chinese consumers," he said, adding that organizers hope the site will initially reach up to 200 million people in China.
Speaking to The Associated Press, Dior CEO Sidney Toledano hailed the site as "an extremely original, creative and I'd say state-of-the-art way to communicate," with China's potential consumers.
French brands are present in nearly 70 Chinese cities, with 45 new boutiques opening between 2009-2010 alone, a statement from the Comite Colbert said.