Prices for antiques in China have risen sharply over the past five years and now galleries all over the world over are waiting for the nation’s cashed-up collectors to spread the wealth overseas.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Netherlands’ Tefaf Maastricht, New York gallery director James Hennessy said that internationally things were looking up in the antique market, but all eyes were on China.

“Business is better than last year,” Hennessy told the Bloomberg news agency.

“The market for Chinese art expands with the Chinese economy. There are thousands of collectors in mainland China who are seeking out works in the West.

China’s seemingly unquenchable thirst for wine has ousted America as Bordeaux’s number one client outside Europe, latest figures showed Friday.

With overall exports down a large 23 percent in 2009, vintners are now looking to the East to drain their cellars.

“China has become our first client outside the European Union,” said Alain Vironneau, president of the CIVB, Bordeaux’s wine trade body, in a press conference, hailing both Hong Kong and China as “dynamic”.

China’s buying power comes at a particularly opportune moment as France’s leading wine region struggles to survive the economic crisis.

China is expected to be the world’s seventh largest wine consumer by 2013 as the nation’s thirst for vintages continues to grow amid an economic boom.

The country will consume around 1.26 billion bottles of wine in 2013, an increase of about 32 percent from 2009, according to findings of Vinexpo, organiser of one of the world’s largest wine and spirits exhibitions.

China was the eighth largest wine consumer last year, behind leader Italy, France and the United States in the top three spots.

General Motors is to wind down operations of its Hummer vehicles - after failing to complete a planned takeover by a Chinese firm.

GM did not comment on why the sale to China-based Tengzhong had collapsed. Reports have said Beijing had refused to approve the purchase.

GM agreed to sell the brand last year, as it offloaded famous names it owned and went into bankruptcy protection.

Hummers were originally built as military off-road vehicles by a company called AM General.

The brand took off as US motorists flocked to the sport utility vehicles favoured by celebrities including Arnold Schwarzenegger.

To celebrate the Chinese New Year, Ernst Benz has launched its intriguing ChronoScope PEK Limited Edition watch.

The timepiece represents a precious object of design encouraged by Chinese numerology and the number 8 in particular – the “lucky number” in China.

Developed and produced in Switzerland, the Ernst Benz ChronoScope PEK Limited Edition watch employs the brand’s iconic 47 mm case, rendered in brushed stainless steel.

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.