仏高級ブランド王アルノー氏、中国訪問 各地を視察

【北京ＡＦＰ＝時事】フランスの大富豪で高級ブランドＬＶＭＨ会長兼最高経営責任者（ＣＥＯ）のベルナール・アルノー氏が今週中国を訪問していることが、同国のソーシャルメディアで話題になっている。（写真は高級ブランドＬＶＭＨ会長兼最高経営責任者〈ＣＥＯ〉のベルナール・アルノー氏）
　アルノー氏は２７日、北京の高級ショッピングモールＳＫＰと三里屯太古里で目撃された。翌２８日には南西部・四川省の成都市で国際金融センターや高級店を視察したという。
　中国国営メディアもＳＮＳの投稿動画を引用し、アルノー氏の訪中を報じた。
　アルノー氏には、ディオールの香水部門とファッション部門を率いる娘のデルフィーヌ氏と、ルイ・ヴィトンの時計部門で開発とマーケティングのディレクターを務める息子のジャン氏が同行している。
　中国は世界の高級品市場にとって極めて重要な存在。新型コロナウイルスの流行以前は世界の高級品消費の３分の１を占めていた。新型コロナは業界に大打撃を与えたが、スイス金融大手ＵＢＳのアナリストは、今年は「中国消費者の年」になると予想している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/06/29-16:53）

French billionaire and luxury brand magnate Bernard Arnault 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 Sanlitun Taikoo Li shopping centre Tuesday, posts widely circulated on Weibo showed.
He was then spotted in the southwestern city of Chengdu on Wednesday, where he toured the 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, 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 percent 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.
This week's visit to China is far from his first.
In a 2007 interview with Time magazine, the French tycoon said he had travelled to China maybe twenty times and praised the country's economic potential.
He is one of a number of foreign businessmen to visit the country since the end of its zero-Covid regime, which barred all but essential travel to China for almost three years.
This month, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates visited Beijing, where he met with President Xi Jinping and hailed the country's successes in fighting Covid, according to state media.
And in May, Tesla CEO Elon Musk met with top officials in the Chinese capital, before heading to Shanghai to visit his company's Gigafactory on the outskirts of the city.