A Chanel boutique in the interior of the IFC Shopping Mall at Lujiazui in Shanghai. (Shutterstock/August_0802)
Even as China?s luxury market growth re-emerges into positive territory after two years of recession, 2016 marks the first time in history that Chinese consumers contributed less to global luxury sales than they did the year before, according to Bain & Company?s annual industry ?Bain Luxury Study? report.
In 2015, Bain & Company reported a 2 percent decline for China?s luxury market, as consumers mostly spent their money on luxury products overseas. The new report says that this market is growing again after Bain reported in May this year that it would be up 2 percent. 
Despite this increase in purchases by Chinese consumers in the country?s domestic luxury market, strong local spending does not make up for decreased spending overseas. China?s overall contribution to the global market was reduced to 30 percent in 2016, a drop of one percentage point from the year before, the report shows. This development bucks the trend of shopping for luxury goods overseas among Chinese consumers, but it does not come fully as a surprise after years of effort spent by the Chinese government to drive more consumption at home. For the past few years, Chinese consumers have shown great enthusiasm in making their luxury purchases abroad, causing cross-border shopping (haitao) and the daigou market to boom.  However, the daigou market has shown signs of contraction since ea...