Despite Xi?s austerity campaign, high-end consumption is ?reshoring?
Sales of luxury goods in China have rebounded as European companies concentrate on selling inside the country © FT montage

High-end spending is back in China, but this time consumers are ?reshoring? the luxury purchases they once made on overseas trips to fashion capitals such as Paris and Milan.
Foot traffic rose in opulent Shanghai malls, Swiss watch sales shot up and top European luxury brands from Burberry to LVMH reported sharply improved revenues from China in the second half of 2016.
Chinese consumers buy more luxury products than those in any other country, accounting for about one-third of global sales. But a decade of rapid growth stalled after 2013 amid President Xi Jinping?s government austerity and anti-corruption campaigns and an economic slowdown.
However, Burberry said this month its return to expansion in Asia was driven by ?high single-digit comparable sales growth? in China, and Hugo Boss?s incoming chief executive Mark Langer said China had seen a turnround in the second half of the year.
On Thursday, LVMH highlighted ?better momentum after a tough 2015? in its Chinese wine and liquor sales, underscoring Rémy Cointreau?s earlier announcement that a rebound in cognac sales in China had fuelled a 9 per cent sales increase in the third quarter.
Analysts said the ?feel good factor? among wealthy Chinese consumers had returned after confidence was shaken by a stock market rout in 2015. ...