Designer brands pinning hopes on China may be undone by 'girlfriend economics'
China's economy is scurrying towards trouble, if the 'hairy crab' index is any measure. Prices for the food delicacy have dropped between 30 and 50 per cent, in part due to the global economic crisis.
Crab industry official Yang Weilong said he believed a market still existed for the very finest crabs taken from Yangcheng Lake, not far from the commercial capital of Shanghai.
'We had predicted the price would increase by 10 per cent. But now we perceive the price isn't going up, due to the financial crisis and the depressed stock market,' said Mr Yang, chairman of the Yangcheng Lake Crab Industry Association.
Sellers of luxury goods and services are looking to China's domestic demand to save them from the crisis ravaging the rest of the world. But increased economic integration means China is also feeling the pain.
Nowhere is the marketing of luxury more evident than in Shanghai, even as the world economy collapses.
