The Chinese luxury market could be the world’s №1

by Patrícia Fischer

touted natural resources in a sustainable way. Based on US research and information as well as other sources, Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium” in the near future.

The author is a sociologist, cultural anthropologist, international analyst and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Carpathian Foundation

INDUSTRY ANALYSTS PREDICT THAT CHINA WILL SOON BE THE WORLD’S LARGEST LUXURY MARKET, OVERTAKING THE UNITED STATES.

While the luxury markets of Europe and the United States have suffered from the pandemic mainly due to the absence of rich Chinese tourists, China’s wealthy citizens have contributed large sums to global luxury spending. By 2020, China had grown into the second largest luxury market in the world, valued at USD 44 billion. The US luxury market was estimated at USD 55 billion in the same year. The segment is already quite significant and, according to international consultants Bain & Company, the Asian economy could become the world’s

WeChat is the way to consumers

Cooperation with China

Afghanistan’s mineral resources, particularly its lithium deposits can play a key role in the global energy transition to renewable resources. China is already in talks with the Afghan leadership to invest in the country's lithium sector. Furthermore, they recently signed and oil extraction contract with Chinese Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas (CAPEIC).

Chanel has been ranked as the most active content publisher among luxury brands in 2022 on WeChat by iPaiban, a WeChat layout tool and data analysis platform. With email marketing largely absent in China, WeChat is the most effective way for brands to directly communicate with consumers via their official accounts. Most brands are registered as corporate accounts on WeChat, which allows them to push content to all of their subscribers four times a month. Chanel had the most total views on WeChat with its own content at 3,745,517 views, a 180.54 percent increase from 2021, iPaiban revealed after comparing WeChat data from Fendi, Prada, Hermès, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Burberry. They respectively published 48, 38, 59, 72, 35 and 63 articles on WeChat in 2022.

largest luxury market by 2025 at current growth rates. As Bain & Company stated, China’s luxury market grew at roughly 48 percent in 2020. This growth was fostered by the introduction of travel restrictions due to Covid-19, as China’s wealthy spent their money in their home country instead of the traditional ”fashion capitals”.

Considering the significant increase in disposable incomes, the expansion of the nouveau riche and the tradition of giving gifts that is embedded in Chinese culture, the massive boom in the Chinese luxury sector in recent years is anything but surprising. In addition, a number of international players have appeared in the domestic market. Luxury brands that have faced challenges in other parts of the world tend to find their accounts in China.

Up until the Russian-Ukrainian war that began on 24 February 2022, 95 per cent of rail freight traffic between Europe and China was carried along the Eurasian Northern Corridor (China-KazakhstanRussia-Belarus-Poland-Germany- France-Spain). The key advantage of this main transport route is that within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union, there is a customs union and a single economic zone (in terms of freight transport) between Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. The economic sanctions against Russia and Belarus also apply to traffic transiting through these countries, meaning that an increasing share of rail freight is beginning to shift to the emerging Eurasian Middle Corridor. Its route enters the European continent from China, via Kazakhstan, through the

Caspian Sea and the South Caucasus, Türkiye or the Black Sea. This transport corridor is also known as the Trans-Caspian route because of the section crossing the Caspian Sea.

Freight transport via the Middle Corridor is still a fraction of what it used to be via Russia and Belarus, with a capacity currently equivalent to only 5 per cent of the main Eurasian Northern transport route. At the same time, on account of the war, the demand and the need for the substantial development and use of the middle route by carriers is increasing.

The author is a senior research fellow at the Eurasia Center of John von Neumann University, and head of the Geopolitical Research Group

The EU enjoys the benefits of the bypass route

The European Union has promoted the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, also known as the Middle Corridor as an alternative to the traditional Northern route for the Europe-Asia railway shipments which crosses Russia. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development announced in last November that they would put billions of euros into the creation of freight paths between Europe and Asia which do not go through Russia.