Much has changed in the Chinese consumer landscape but the cachet attached to foreign goods remains the same, according to a survey by FT Confidential Research, a unit of the Financial Times, showing cost is not the only motivator.

Recent government tax increases and tighter customs treatment of business-to-consumer cross-border ecommerce, dubbed haitao in Chinese, may appear to threaten surging demand for international goods, but the survey shows that consumers are motivated by more than price.

Besides, the change in price wrought by the change in tax treatment has been slight. China previously levied a parcel tax on imported goods worth less than Rmb1,000 ($154) at a rate of about 10 per cent. But manpower shortages meant customs inspected barely more than 5 per cent of parcels, according to FTCR estimates.