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< p > Liu Mei is an office worker in Hongkong with a monthly salary of about 2500 dollars, but she spends about 10 to 15 times her monthly salary in < a href= "m.pmae.cn/news/index_c.asp" > luxuries < /a >, and buys everything from Prada handbags to high-end cosmetics.

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< p > although Ms. Liu likes shopping, she mainly buys as a purchasing agent. The so-called purchasing agent refers to a group of people who specialize in helping Chinese mainland consumers to shop overseas.

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< p > more and more people are engaged in purchasing.

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Less than a year ago, Ms. Liu bought P for a year. Her original intention was to earn extra money, but the monthly income of the young Chinese woman rose to $10 thousand soon.

She now has about 2600 customers, who will be placed through micro-blog and WeChat.

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Liu P, who asked to use a pseudonym, said, "I don't know how much money I will make.

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< p > I have no expectation of revenue.

I only know that this is profitable.

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< p > but she did not give up her routine work.

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< p >, she realized that making a href= "m.pmae.cn/news/index_cj.asp" > purchasing /a > returns is high, but it may also be illegal.

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< p > some purchasing agents specializes in shipping goods from Hongkong to the mainland.

This phenomenon has spread among Chinese expatriates - they are increasingly buying brand-name products from their hometown compatriots from Paris, London, New York, Tokyo and Seoul.

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< p > purchasing prosperity is an example of the rapid change of e-commerce in China's retail market.

According to Chinese media reports, there are tens of thousands of people buying and purchasing.

In the largest online market in China, Alibaba's Taobao search for "purchasing" two characters, will appear more than 24 virtual stores, and nearly 15 million products, including car child seats, air purifiers and portable printers.

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< p > China Electronic Commerce Research Center claims that the purchasing market increased 19 times between 2008 and 2012, and reached 48 billion yuan in 2012.

According to the center estimates, the scale of the purchasing market in 2013 is expected to reach 74 billion yuan.

According to a recent report by Bain, about 60% of Chinese consumers who buy luxury goods use purchasing agents at a certain time.

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There are many reasons for the flourishing of P purchasing business.

Many Chinese believe that the same products are better quality abroad.

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The appreciation of RMB P, the increase in purchasing power of Chinese consumers, and the large number of food safety scandals in China also stimulated consumers' demand for safety and quality foreign products.

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Mo Daiqing, an analyst at the China Electronic Commerce Research Center, said that the main reason why Chinese people are keen on buying P is that China has imposed high import tariffs on luxury goods.

For example, China has imposed a 50% tariff on cosmetics, which is one of the most important purchasing commodities.

In addition, 17% of VAT will be imposed on imported luxury goods.

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< p > Ms. Mo said: "the same brand of milk powder, cosmetics and handbags, Hongkong, the United States, Japan and South Korea, the price is much cheaper than the mainland."

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< p > but purchasing by the mainland and Hongkong has attracted more and more attention, especially the so-called "water customers" who have multiple entry qualifications.

These people travel several times a day on the Shenzhen border, carrying goods on sale and not declaring them to the customs.

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< p > lawyer Dong Yizhi, a legal expert in e-commerce, pointed out that as long as the purchasing agent pays the import tax, purchasing is not illegal.

But he said that if taxes were paid, purchasing would lose its meaning.

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< p > Dong Yizhi said: "if they pay customs duties, the price differential will shrink substantially, and they will not be able to make money."

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< p > Chinese citizens should pay taxes more than 5000 yuan for overseas shopping.

But the Shenzhen customs has imposed more stringent regulations on the number of visitors entering the country one day.

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< p > > a href= "m.pmae.cn/news/index_p.asp > > Shenzhen < /a > Liu Lizhen, a customs officer, said that the purpose was to crack down on those who abused the multiple entry system.

This has become a more serious problem in Hongkong. Since 2009, Hongkong has allowed Shenzhen permanent residents to enter the country freely.

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< p > Liu Lizhen said, "we once discovered that one person crossed 26 times a day."

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< p > despite the official attack on purchasing agents, Liu Mei said she was not worried. She still went to Shenzhen several times a week.

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"P," she joked, "I don't need to go to the gym every time I cross the border with so many things to exercise."

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