Retailers in Hong Kong look to have had their best Christmas ever, with overall retail sales expected to have surged as much as 25 percent from a year ago to a record high, the Retail Management Association says.

"For those retailers that were able to benefit from the influx of mainland visitors and the Christmas season, they saw their sales surge by up to 30 percent during the vacation," the group's chairwoman, Caroline Mak Sui-king, said. "Overall, retailers should see a surge of about 23 percent to 25 percent in sales value in December over a year ago."

But she warned that some jewellery and watch retailers had seen a drop in the sales of luxury products worth HKD500,000 (USD64,360) or more in the final quarter because the uncertain outlook for the global economy had affected some Chinese businessmen.

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