LONDON — French luxury and beauty companies have a big presence at the seventh China International Import Expo as 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of France resuming diplomatic relations with China.
The fair, which runs from Tuesday to Sunday in Shanghai with 3,496 exhibitors from 129 countries and regions, is billed as the world’s first national-level exposition dedicated to imports.
Following opening remarks by Li Qiang, Chinese premier and former Shanghai party secretary, the fair opened its doors on Tuesday, welcoming visitors to roam around the expansive fair with cutting-edge firms such as GE Vernova showcasing its latest wind turbines, Dutch chipmaker ASML promoting its EUV lithography systems, Nachi-Fujikoshi Corp with its agile robotic arms, and China’s first “flying taxi” aircraft at the TCabTech booth.
Consumer-facing companies — including LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Kering, Richemont, L’Oréal, Shiseido, Burberry, Coach, Uniqlo, Zara, Asics, Nike, Lululemon and Lego — meanwhile used the occasion to demonstrate their unwavering commitment to the Chinese market despite the nation’s structural economic slowdown depressing many of their recent earnings.
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Participating in the fair for the fifth time, LVMH set up a 6,460-square-foot booth showcasing its deep-rooted history in China and the latest items from its houses: Bulgari, Céline, Chaumet, Christian Dior Couture, Fendi, Guerlain, Hennessy, Loewe, Louis Vuitton, Parfums Christian Dior, Rimowa, Tiffany & Co. and Sephora presenting Cha Ling, a luxury skin care brand based on pu’er tea culled from China‘s Yunnan Province.
Sophie Primas, France’s minister delegate for foreign trade, attractiveness and French nationals abroad, was drawn to a Dior Lady Art bag by Chinese artist Liang Yuanwei when visiting the booth, said Marc-Antoine Jamet, general secretary of LVMH.
Jamet is part of a fleet of LVMH senior executives, including Laurent Boillot, president and chief executive officer of Hennessy, Bulgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin, and LVMH Group president of Greater China Andrew Wu attending CIIE and engaging in a series of panel discussions with local officials, voicing commitment to China and advocating for policy adjustment.
“The fair is more and more crowded. There are more than 150 French exhibitors. This morning, I was at the opening ceremony where the Chinese premier was with the prime minister of Serbia, the prime minister of Slovakia, and presidents of many African countries. Here is clearly the place to be,” Jamet said.
Calling the fair a success of Chinese diplomacy, trade and the economy, Jamet added that Shanghai, especially at CIIE, is the place to show new products and meet people — customers, employees, local officials and even competitors.
China’s recent tax hike around French cognac as a result of the European Union’s tariff on Chinese electric vehicles is one of the key topics that LVMH would like to negotiate on this occasion.
“We need to give it time. That’s not a problem that we will solve in 24 hours. We need to have more negotiations with the Chinese administration. I’m sure that for each technical problem, there is a political solution. That’s what we have been trying to do with the help of the French government. We are bringing all the cognac producers to the table for this negotiation,” Jamet added.
The executive reiterated that the group’s long-term commitment to China remains unchanged. In the third quarter, LVMH missed market expectations with a 4.4 percent drop in revenue, blaming lower growth in Japan and a “marked deterioration” in sales of clothing and accessories to Chinese nationals.
“You don’t judge the economy of a country with more than 1.4 billion people in only the past six months. There is a real estate crisis in China. Maybe there are crises in other sectors of the economy, but as I am in the middle of China, I can say that Shanghai is very busy as usual. It is still the place where you can build important projects,” Jamet said.
He noted that the group is on track with its DFS Yalong Bay shopping mall, among others, such as a cohort of mega flagships as part of the Taikoo Li Sanlitun upgrade. Due to open by 2026, the Yalong Bay project in China’s duty-free island Hainan will spread over 1.38 million square feet and carry more than 1,000 luxury brands. As of 2024, LVMH has 1,800 stores and 21,000 employees across China.
“It’s true that the growth of China is not the same as it was in the past. Maybe we will see no more double-digit growth. But when you see the level of growth in Europe, I’m not sure that the more risky market is China,” Jamet added.
Jean-Paul Agon, chairman of L’Oréal Group, agreed that the Chinese economy has strong resilience.
“The fundamentals of sound development have not changed, and new drivers are growing strongly. The next China is China, and investing in China is investing in our future. The CIIE’s spillover effect has been instrumental in our growth, reinforcing our confidence in the Chinese market and driving our continuous investment. This year, we establish our world’s first intelligent operation center in Suzhou,” he told local press.
The Kering booth, designed by the architectural firm Gensler, this time was inspired by traditional Chinese paper scrolls.
Leveraging scroll-shaped enclosures, the booth comes with streamlined spaces to showcase a selection of pieces — some of them blending Eastern and Western cultures and craftsmanship — from Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Brioni, Boucheron, Pomellato, Qeelin, Ginori 1735, Kering Eyewear and Creed under Kering Beauté.
Kering, chair of the sustainable fashion and lifestyle committee of the CIIE Enterprise Alliance, is also the supporter of a sustainability CIIE summit. It aims to explore feasible pathways for sustainable breakthroughs in the fashion industry from a global perspective with participants including the Global Fashion Agenda.
Burberry’s booth, inspired by London’s iconic taxi drivers’ shelters, spotlights its latest winter designs with the brand’s rich history and archive assets that inspired the new collection. The occasion marks the debut of the Parka Coat from the winter 2024 collection in the Chinese market.
The British luxury trenchcoat-maker, which is pivoting toward a more competitive price and product range under new CEO Joshua Schulman, a move praised by Erwan Rambourg at HSBC in a recent report, also introduced an interactive experience at the fair.
Visitors can present their gifted postcard and collect a stamp from the Burberry booth in CIIE first. They will be awarded with a souvenir belt if they then collect a second stamp at the Burberry store at Plaza 66 in downtown Shanghai.
Participating in the CIIE for the fourth consecutive year for Burberry, the brand’s China president Josie Zhang said the expo has become “one of China’s most important platforms to build and strengthen understanding and collaboration between China and the world. This becomes ever more important in today’s world.”
Since its inception in 2018, the past six editions of CIIE have generated a total intended transaction amount exceeding $420 billion, according to China’s state news agency Xinhua.
During the opening ceremony on Tuesday, Chinese premier Li said China is willing to open up its market further and will continue to expand market access to sectors including telecommunications, the internet, education, culture and health care.
He also touted that China is confident about achieving this year’s economic and social development goals.
