AFTER a bumpy few years, luxury brands are re-committing to China’s market as a weaker yuan and trade tensions funnel more Chinese high-end spending back home, Tiffany & Co. CEO Alessandro Bogliolo said in an interview.

New York-based Tiffany’s sales grew more than 25 percent on the Chinese mainland in the second quarter of this year — in stark contrast to a 3 percent drop in the company’s global turnover in the same period.

“This strong double-digit growth has been consistent now for several quarters,” Bogliolo told reporters while in Shanghai to launch Tiffany’s largest-ever product exhibition.

“I think this is partially because of the general trend in the industry due to currencies and also to the efforts of the Chinese Government to increase local consumption.”

A significant portion of luxury retailers’ sales came from spending by Chinese tourists overseas, but the weaker currency curbs such buying. Much of that spending is coming home to the Chinese mainland.

Chinese shoppers accounted for one-third of global luxury spending in 2018, Bain reported in March. Of total Chinese purchases around the world, 50 percent are expected to be made within the Chinese mainland by 2025, up from 27 percent last year, the company said.

In response, luxury brands are offering additional purchasing channels in China and ramping up marketing.

Tiffany, with 35 shops on the mainland, will open a new one in Beijing’s international airport within weeks and expand its China flagship stores in Beijing and Shanghai.

(SD-Agencies)