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LVMH billionaire CEO Bernard Arnault in China to woo all-important Chinese consumers

  • The high-profile visit coincides with a gathering of global executives and world leaders in Tianjin
  • Visit reflects ‘luxury companies’ high expectations for China’, Digital Luxury Group’s partner and managing director for China says

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Arnault is being accompanied by Louis Vuitton CEO Pietro Beccari and Delphine, his daughter who heads Christian Dior Couture. Photo: AFP
Bloomberg

Bernard Arnault, the CEO of LVMH, kicked off his tour of China with a visit to a high-end shopping centre, with the billionaire’s efforts to woo Chinese consumers coinciding with the government’s push to build ties with foreign companies.

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The French entrepreneur was spotted at a mall in Beijing on Tuesday, Global Times tweeted, citing photos taken circulating on a Chinese social-media platform.

Louis Vuitton CEO Pietro Beccari is joining the trip, as is Delphine Arnault, Bernard’s daughter who heads Christian Dior Couture, people familiar with the trip have said, declining to be named discussing his whereabouts. The itinerary includes meetings with local teams in several cities, the people said.

The high-profile visit coincides with a gathering of global executives and world leaders in Tianjin, where Chinese Premier Li Qiang has sought to reset ties with major trading partners and warned of the risk of confrontation amid the campaign to “de-risk” supply chains away from the world’s second-biggest economy. President Xi Jinping separately pledged to do right by foreign investors as the country continues to open up.

Beijing has already rolled out the red carpet for other global business leaders – including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Tesla founder Elon Musk – to try and assuage concerns that it has become more hostile towards foreign capital. The charm offensive comes as pressure builds for officials, who face an increasingly gloomy economic outlook and have highlighted a consumption revival as core to the recovery.
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