Wealthy Chinese people spend most of their money on leisure travel, with their favorite overseas destinations France, America and Australia, according to "China Luxury Traveller Report 2012" was released by Hunrun Report.

The Reports showed that travel accounted for the largest proportion of the spending of China's 960,000 millionaires, individuals whose net worth is over ten million yuan (US$1.54 million).

The top domestic destinations are Sanya (Hainan province), Hong Kong and Yunnan province, the paper noted. For the first time, spending on trips within China accounted for the highest share -- 17% -- in the amount of money spent in an individual country.

Russia was the overseas destination benefiting the most from these wealthy Chinese tourists, accounting for 16% of their global spending, followed by the United States and Japan (5% each), and Hong Kong and Switzerland (2% each).

Top shopping items were watches and jewelry (31%), while clothes and accessories were second with 29%.

In addition, the report found that the average age of these big spenders is 39 and about 70% of them are male. Their annual spending is equivalent to five percent of their wealth and on average they own over three cars and 3.7-4.6 watches.

The report found that the main reasons for travel were leisure and shopping and that the amount of money spent on shopping increased by 91% in 2010, much higher than the 50% growth seen in 2009.

23% of respondents chose to travel during summer when their children had school breaks, while 17% preferred to travel during the Oct. 1 National Day holiday. About 14% and 9% of the interviewees said they preferred the Chinese New Year and the May Day holidays respectively.

According to the report, China is experiencing a boom in the luxury travel market because of the fast-growing wealth of the country's rich. The appreciation of the Chinese currency and the procedural ease of acquiring visas have also helped bolster the trend.