Tokyo

CHINESE tourists buying million-yen watches and luxury brands helped boost sales at Japanese premium outlet malls owned by Mitsubishi Estate Co to a record last year, as a weaker currency led to a surge in bargain-hunting visitors.

Premium outlet sales jumped by more than 10 per cent to between 300 billion yen (S$3.7 billion) and 350 billion yen in 2015, Yutaka Tajima, a senior executive officer at Mitsubishi Estate, said in an interview in Tokyo on Monday. He is targeting higher sales this year, he added.