Watch enthusiast Li Yanzhe is among the 400m Chinese millennials tipped to become an even more dominant force in global luxury consumption in the coming years. Chinese consumers accounted for a third of all global luxury spending last year — a proportion expected to rise to 40 per cent by 2025, according to McKinsey, a consultancy.
European and US brands have dominated China’s luxury market until now. Yet Mr Li’s peer group — which accounts for two-thirds of all luxury spending in China — is opening up to domestic names, creating fresh opportunity for quality homegrown watchmakers.
Annie Hou, vice-president of strategy at marketing agency Ogilvy in Beijing, is among those noticing changes in consumer attitudes. Millennials express themselves and shape their personal image through luxury goods, she says, and they are starting to open up to Chinese brands. “In their mind, domestic brands are no longer inferior to global brands,” she observes.