(Yicai Global) Aug. 6 -- The world's biggest luxury retailers may have Chinese consumers to thank for if experiencing any growth this year amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Chinese market for luxury products will recover before its global counterparts and is expected to even widen by 10 percent this year, the Paper reported yesterday, citing Boston Consulting Group.

Only 43 percent of Chinese consumers expect to reduce their spending on luxury goods in the next six months whereas that figure is between 50 and 60 percent for those in the US, Italy, and the UK, the report added.

How that finding should result in growth has much to do with the global travel restrictions caused by the pandemic. Many consumers who used to buy luxury products abroad in the past should do so on the home turf now, said Yang Li, management consultant at the Boston-headquartered firm.

Moreover, China has been recovering fast from the impacts of the epidemic in the second quarter. This is why the Chinese market has been a highlight in the earnings reports of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, which runs brands such as Loewe, Celine, Givenchy, and Marc Jacobs, as well as Kering, which has Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent.

Paris-headquartered LVMH's total net profit slumped 84 percent to EUR522 million (USD619.9 million) in the second quarter from a year ago but in the Asia-Pacific market, its revenue slid only 13 percent after plunging 32 percent in the first quarter.

Kering, which calls the same European city its home, reported a 53 percent drop in net profit to EUR272 million in the first half from a year ago. But in China, its net profit widened by 6.4 percent in the second quarter with its reopening mainland stores. That helped the Asia-Pacific's annual decline to narrow to 25 percent in the second quarter after a bigger slump a quarter earlier.

France's Hermes International and Switzerland's Compagnie Financiere Richemont were also going strong in China.

One sign of China's insatiable hunger for luxury is that brands including Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Prada have not been shy to raise their prices. Louis Vuitton has hiked prices already three times since last September instead of the usual two times each year, according to the same report.

Editor: Emmi Laine