French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH – Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy has paid US$200 million for a 10 per cent stake in Chinese fashion brand Ochirly.

The buyout gives L Capital, LVMH’s private equity arm, to hold a direct stake in the family-owned Ochirly which has total value of US$2 billion.

The investment gives L Capital an opportunity to break into China’s strong fashion industry while Ochirly gains recognition through having a global investor.

Italian luxury car maker Maserati will recall 222 vehicles in China due to a defective rear light, China’s quality watchdog said Wednesday.

Maserati sold more than 780 cars in China last year, nearly twice as many as in 2010, making the Asian country its second largest market in the world after the United States, according to the company’s website.

The growing power of the Chinese consumer might have the world in its thrall but it seems it won’t be too long before their lust for luxury is more satisfied a little closer to home.

Traditionally, Chinese shoppers have had to head overseas to pick up the latest fashions or other luxury items, due mainly to steep taxes on such items back home.

A recent survey by the World Luxury Association claimed that 72 percent of Chinese consumers believed that luxury goods were cheaper overseas than at home, while 69 percent of those polled traveled simply because they had a wider choice of goods available to them when they did.

Aston Martin, has announced that it will debut its China-focused “Dragon88″ line at the upcoming Beijing Auto Show, to celebrate the Year of the Dragon.

Available only for the Chinese market, 88 special “Dragon88″ models of the V8 Vantage S, Virage, and DBS will be made featuring some Chinese cultural references and iconography.

Brazil’s leading planemaker Embraer is eyeing the large Chinese market, and on Friday presented a Legacy 650 executive jet to martial arts star Jackie Chan to help build its brand there.

Embraer said that Chan would help the company promote “its entire line of executive aircraft, not only in the rapidly growing greater China market, but globally.”

“This delivery is a moment of historical importance to Embraer because it solidifies an already long and successful relationship between China and Embraer,” said Ernest Edwards, president of Embraer’s Executive Jets unit.

A Chinese shipping magnate has paid a world record-high $328,000 for a Dutch pigeon, according to PIPA, an international pigeon auction house.

The buyer of the most-expensive pigeon on record, PIPA said, is Hu Zhen Yu, who runs a shipbuilding company in China.

He bought the bird for breeding rather than racing in China, where pigeon fancying is a fast growing sport and big business.