Achieving a look that is positive and appealing is obviously a matter of individual taste, and for Tang Guoliang, a businessman who runs a wine import and export company, there are three big musts in personal presentation: one must be well groomed, sophisticated and cosmopolitan.

Tang, 35, might well have scoffed at being called a metrosexual five years ago, but now, it seems, the term does not just denote the intelligent juxtaposition of bright, well tailored colors that may occupy the closet of a fashion-friendly guy who happens to be straight.

For him, most of the time that is not too hard. Strict business formality is easy, he says: a charcoal gray or navy blue suit and plain black shoes. When he wants an earnest, enthusiastic look, his attire turns more business casual, drawing on pithy design ideas.

Tang is the chairman and chief operating officer of a young company in Beijing, and he often attends meetings and conferences in various parts of the world, where he is keen to stand out among those wearing plaid shirts and jackets.

"I don't really follow trends that much, but being a fashion-savvy male does not make you a 'delicate boy', and having an acute sense of what to wear properly and decently gives me confidence."

His wife and female friends are also sometimes amazed at his aesthetic clothing choices.