Luxury brands bank on raring China market

Fervent shoppers have flocked again to the streets of Shanghai, where luxury stores like Prada and Louis Vuitton are counting on Chinese customers to open up their purses, after the global health crisis has sent most of the world's luxury spending into a tailspin.

China is the only major economy still expected to grow this year.

That's spurring big brands to go all-in and boost the number of new stores, embrace e-commerce and live fashion shows to attract Chinese customers like 27-year-old Xing Ying.

"Previously, I might buy these (luxury products) when I went abroad, but now we can't leave the country, so sometimes there's a sudden need -- for example, I was shopping for a backpack today, and I could only buy it in China."

And the investments seem to be paying off.

Prada says their China sales jumped by 60% or more in June and July.

Louis Vuitton and Dior also have seen their sales more than double since the country emerged out of lockdown in March.

China has long sought to bring its citizens' lavish spending back home by slashing import tariffs and expanding the amount of duty-free shopping.

But it's now looking like the luxury shift to the Chinese market is here to stay.

Mauro Maggioni is the Asia-Pacific head of luxury brand Golden Goose.

"The old luxury market was already very much Chinese buyers if you like, because almost all of the luxury consumption is, was, Chinese and it's going to be even more. But now, what happened is the mainland China is becoming the place where all these purchase power is trapped."

According to McKinsey & Company, the Chinese are set to account for around half of all global spending on high-end brands this year.