BEIJING - Chinese mainland consumers spent 11 billion yuan (1.32 billion euros) on Swiss-made watches last year, becoming the world's third-largest Swiss watch market, according to the latest report by the Federation of Swiss Watch Industry.

Swiss watch exports reached a record of 132.5 billion yuan last year, an increase of 19.2 percent over 2010. Watches priced more than 2,500 euros had the fastest export growth at 22 percent.

Hong Kong topped the charts of the five largest sales markets of Swiss watches at 3.4 billion euros, followed by the United States, Chinese mainland, France and Singapore.

The report said although the stronger Swiss franc has brought some negative effects to the sales of Swiss watches, manufacturers still experienced rapid sales growth thanks to the rising demand for their products around the world, especially in emerging markets.

The report also predicted that Swiss watch exports will continue to maintain double-digit growth this year, largely because of more consumption generated when Chinese travel abroad.