BEIJING (AFP): French billionaire and luxury brand magnate Bernard Arnault (pic) is in China this week, social media posts showed, the latest visit by a foreign executive keen to reconnect to the world's second-largest economy.
The world's second-richest man after Elon Musk and chairman of LVMH group, Arnault was seen in Beijing visiting the upscale SKP mall and the Arnaulthe Sanlitun Taikoo Li shopping centre on Tuesday (June 27), posts widely circulated on Weibo showed.
He was then spotted in the southwestern city of Chengdu on Wednesday, where he toured the city's International Finance Center and other upscale stores, posts said.
Chinese state media also reported the visit was taking place, citing the social media videos.
Arnault is accompanied by two of his children -- Delphine, who heads the Dior perfume and fashion brand, and Jean, who is director of watch development and marketing at Louis Vuitton -- videos showed.
China is critical to the luxury market, and before the pandemic made up a third of all global luxury goods spending.
The pandemic hit the industry hard, with China's share of the market sinking to 17 per cent in 2022, according to analysts at UBS, who have said that 2023 will be the "year of the Chinese consumer".
"The Chinese clientele is much more important than it was in 2019," LVMH's financial director Jean-Jacques Guiony recently told journalists.
Arnault's LVMH group -- which includes dozens of brands including Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, and Kenzo -- has continued to post strong revenue and profit growth despite global economic headwinds.
Arnault has said he is "optimistic about the Chinese market".
