Having established a Hong Kong-based yacht brokerage in 1984, Mike Simpson has been around long enough to know what some of China’s wealthiest clients want.
The Chinese “like things to happen fast and when they decide to buy a yacht, they don’t just want to spend months looking around …I think they want to get all the answers by the person they are going to do business with,” said the founder and group managing director of Simpson Marine, a yacht dealership, brokerage and service company.
Mike Simpson, founder and group managing director of Simpson Marine.
Chinese consumers want all aspects of the transaction covered, from how to import the boat to getting the right crew, Simpson explained, adding that even tiny details such as producing the list of yacht-cleaning materials in Mandarin Chinesecan make the difference. Yacht sales rose sharply up until Xi Jinping’s 2012 campaign to curb corruption, Simpson told CNBC’s “Managing Asia.”
He added that China’s uncertain economic environment and high import taxes of up to 45 percent for yachts are also hurting the industry.

But still, there are many high net worth people who still want to enjoy a luxurious lifestyle, said Simpson. “We have to facilitate that, make it easier for them … For example, they can buy their yacht and keep it in the south of France or somewhere else in Asia.”
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