Microblog insights

Topic 1: Luxury sales in China have slowed amid an economic slowdown and greater public scrutiny of how the powerful spend their money, The Wall Street Journal reported. Extravagant gift-giving, a frequently seen practice among Chinese business figures and officials, has come under the microscope. Such scrutiny has damped demand for items that are identifiable as gifts, such as jewelry or watches, Aaron Fischer, an analyst at brokerage CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, was quoted as saying. A local official in China, who has been photographed wearing a number of expensive watches, has become the recent subject of criticism online. The official, who is dubbed as "Watch-Wearing Brother", defended himself on Weibo, the Chinese version of the Twitter-like micro-blogging platform, by saying that the purchases are made with his own legal income and he had reported them to the authorities.

XURISANXINGWUSHEN: The articles of luxury are a matter for those to whom making money is quite easy.

ALBERTZHOU1979: As the gift-giving trend wanes in China, the first to be affected will be luxury accessories and men's clothing.