An elite group of Chinese pigeon fanciers have pushed the prices of racing birds to record highs, reflecting a mood of exuberance among China’s wealthy following a pick-up in economic growth and asset prices that has buoyed luxury spending.

Xing Wei, a property tycoon, paid €400,000 ($490,000) to purchase a Belgian pigeon called Nadine, in what is thought to be the largest deal on record. He followed that with a Rmb3m ($475,000) purchase of a champion bird called Extreme Speed Goddess at a Beijing auction in December.

“When rewards are high, brave men must emerge,” said Chen Shiyi, the latter bird’s breeder, fresh from a visit to a loft at his cosmetics company’s headquarters in the eastern Chinese city of Yiwu, which houses hundreds of cooing pigeons.