French labels are the most sought-after luxury products for Chinese shoppers as a booming economy creates a growing legion of newly affluent consumers.

French brands are the top choice for mainland buyers, followed by those from Italy and Hong Kong, consultants KPMG said in their report “Luxury experiences in China”, based on a survey of 1,200 consumers from 24 cities.

“China continues its march towards becoming the largest luxury market in the world,” said Nick Debnam, the firm’s head of consumer markets for Asia Pacific.

The popular Chinese holiday destination of Sanya is set to boast the world’s largest duty free complex, according to reports.

Sanya, on the island of Hainan in the South China Sea, is the southernmost city in China and a booming holiday destination for Chinese tourists, boasting an ever-growing number of resorts aimed at both Chinese and international tourists.

Now, it will also be home to the world’s largest duty free offering, some 350,000 square meters of duty-free retail space according to the Moodie Report.

Moet Hennessy, the wine and spirits arm of LVMH luxury group, said Thursday it was planting its first vineyard in China to produce a premium sparkling wine.

The 66-hectare (163-acre) vineyard will be planted as a joint venture with the publicly-owned agricultural development firm of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region in northwestern China.

The maker of Moet and Chandon champagne will build and own a facility near the vineyard to produce the high-end sparkling wine, which is to be sold locally under the Chandon label, LVMH said.

Roberto Cavalli said it will open 85 new stores in China within the next five years under a deal signed on Tuesday with Shanghai-based retail giant UCCAL Group.

The company will open its first stores under the new deal in Beijing and Shanghai between late 2011 and early 2012, it said in a statement.

The venture will be called Roberto Cavalli China and will be owned 75 percent by the Roberto Cavalli Group and 25 percent by UCCAL.

Global luxury sales should grow eight percent this year to 185 billion dollars (124 billion euros) but Japan‘s market will contract.

The forecast was raised from an earlier estimate of growth of between three and five percent but would still be lower than last year’s result of 12-percent growth in the luxury market, as the world recovered from the economic crisis.

Growth would average five to six percent a year until 2014 according to a study by research group Bain&Company released Tuesday.

One of Rolls Royce boss Torsten Muller-Otvos’ most memorable auto show moments came last year in Beijing when a man walked through the crowd to the carmaker’s stand and set down a suitcase.

“Millions of renminbi,” the man said of the suitcase’s contents. “Really, that was amazing. He bought a Phantom,” Muller-Otvos said.

The Rolls Royce chief executive told AFP no cash buyers had come forward yet at the ongoing Shanghai auto show, but the exhibition has provided further proof for luxury carmakers that their future is in China.