Beijing International Airport has overtaken London Heathrow as the world’s second busiest, in a sign of China’s growing dominance of international travel.

In terms of seat capacity, Beijing International is now second only to Atlanta Hartsfield in the US, according to a July 6 report by aviation analyst OAG.

Beijing’s business has been boosted by a sharp growth in the number of passenger seats to Asia, a growth of nine percent which equates to some 15.3 million more seats flying to or from the region.

With pet ownership on the rise in an increasingly affluent China, savvy entrepreneurs are opening animal spas offering dogs a full makeover — even transformation into a panda.

Sun Ruowen opened her pet salon in central Beijing in May. Already, dozens of customers wanting to pamper their pets — mainly dogs — have bought pre-paid service cards which can cost more than 1,000 dollars.

“People are spending more money these days, and more and more people have dogs, so I decided to open a top-end pet store which offers luxury services such as spa and massage”.

BMW, Ford and Volkswagen have joined General Motors, Mercedes-Benz and other leading Western brands in unveiling concept vehicles for the Chinese market at the Auto China 2010 motor show in Beijing.

Following in the footsteps of German competitor Mercedes-Benz, BMW showed its own four-door coupe, the BMW Concept Gran Coupé.

The concept, intended to combine the “exclusivity of a Gran Turismo with the fascination of a high-performance sports car,” sits some ten centimeters lower than the BMW 5 Series, with a sleek roof that tails off towards the rear.

Super-sports-car maker Lamborghini surprised audiences at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show with a highly exclusive edition of the Murciélago LP670-4 SuperVeloce.

The LP670-4 China Edition is no different than normal models in term of technicalities, but it comes with a bespoke black and orange stripe and can be had with a special grey color.

The interior continues the theme with a variety of orange accents including stitching. The racing stripe is supposedly made to represent a volcano eruption.

The Hurun Research Institute published the 2010 Hurun Wealth Report today for the second consecutive year.

The report analyses the number and distribution of China’s wealthy across the nation’s major cities and provinces.

The report shows that there are 875,000 people with more than RMB 10million (EUR 1.1M / USD 1.47M) in China today, an increase of 6.1% from last year.

This growth has occurred against a background of strong economic performance in China‘s economy.

GDP grew by 8.7% in 2009 to RMB 33.5trillion, and the Shanghai Composite Index rose over the same period from 2300 points to 3000, an increase of 30%.

China’s ever-growing taste for luxury goods is extending into the culinary world — and that’s good news for Jean-Marie Vallier, who runs a duck farm and foie gras factory outside Beijing.

Two years ago, French group Euralis — the world leader in foie gras production — invested 2.7 million dollars in the facilities, aimed at producing the delicacy for high-end restaurants under the Rougie brand.

As the tastes and budgets of China’s growing middle class expand, so does the demand for upmarket Western fare served in chic venues, and Vallier is well-placed to profit from the fledgling gourmet revolution.