Olympics: Games lead to big money at Beijing fakes

Silk Streets pushy vendors managed to attract nearly one million visitors from Aug.1-24 -- 800,000 of whom were foreigners -- a 15.7 percent increase from the same period last year, market general manager Wang Zili told AFP.

Sales came to nearly 400 million yuan ($58 million) based on customers spending an estimated average of 400 yuan each, Wang said, compared with less than 100 million yuan at the same time last year.

Wang insisted many visitors had come not just for the Polo, Prada, and Rolex brand knock-offs, but for the traditional handicrafts also sold there.

He said U.S. President George Bush visited the market while visiting earlier this month, adding that "he bought some traditional pajamas with a dragon and phoenix design."

He said politicians from 24 countries had come to the market during the Aug. 8-24 Olympics, as had a number of athletes including U.S. swimming champion Michael Phelps.

The nearby Yashow Market made slightly lower sales, but still saw twice as many visitors during the Olympics than during the same time last year, said Dong Tao, its marketing manager.

The market, which sells anything from fake bags to pirated shoes, had an average of 20,000 visitors every day, or about 480,000 people from Aug. 1-24, of which 70 percent were foreigners.

Total sales for the period were estimated at around 130 million yuan, Dong said.

China is awash in counterfeit DVDs, fake brand-name clothing, shoes and handbags, which Chinas trading partners say costs Western firms billions of dollars in lost sales each year.

The United States filed a case against China in April last year at the World Trade Organisation over the problem.

Many Beijing merchants had complained previously that a pre-Olympic crackdown on fake-goods factories looked set to hit profits during the Games.

However, the major markets were seen packed with Olympic shoppers during the event, with knock-offs of big brands being openly sold.