BEIJING (AFP) – A millionaire in northern China paid four million yuan (600,000 dollars) for a dog and ordered 30 luxury cars to come to the airport to greet her and the animal, local media reported.

The woman and her new pet -- a black Tibetan Mastiff -- flew into Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province, a report on popular news portal.

A convoy of 30 black Mercedes-Benz cars, led by two sports utility vehicles, drove to the airport Wednesday to pick up the pair, who had arrived from the Tibetan-populated province of Qinghai in China's northwest.

Photos of the event posted with the report showed a committee of dog-lovers holding up a long red banner welcoming the mastiff to Xi'an.

The millionaire, who only gave her surname as Wang, said she and a friend had spent a long time searching for an original Tibetan mastiff.

"Gold has a price, but this Tibetan mastiff doesn't," the young woman said, according to the report.

China's economy has developed at a fast pace, creating with it an increasing number of millionaires.

Research by the Hurun Report, a magazine that tracks China's wealthiest, revealed in April that 825,000 people had personal wealth of over 10 million yuan (1.5 million dollars), or 0.06 percent of the population.

The vast majority of these millionaires have said the global financial crisis has not had any impact on their lifestyle, the research said.