According to the latest H1 FY2026 financial report (for the period ending September 30, 2025) released by Swiss luxury giant Richemont, the Chinese market experienced a marked “V-shaped” rebound during the first half of the fiscal year:
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Q1 (April to June): Combined sales in the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong, and Macao declined by 7% year-on-year (at constant exchange rates);
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Q2 (July to September): The region’s combined sales posted a 7% year-on-year increase (at constant exchange rates).
The report clearly states that the recovery in the second quarter was primarily driven by strong growth in the jewelry segment, whereas demand in the specialist watchmaking division remained sluggish in the Chinese market.
During the earnings call following the release, Richemont CEO Nicolas Bos (pictured below) revealed a notable shift in Chinese Mainland consumer behavior, with sales showing a significant repatriation, particularly from Japan back to Hong Kong.
He elaborated on his outlook for the Chinese market and shared insights into the evolving luxury consumption patterns among Chinese shoppers.
On June 1, 2024, Nicolas Bos, formerly CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels, was appointed CEO of Richemont Group and joined the Group’s Senior Executive Committee. He joined Richemont in 1992 and held roles at Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, serving as CEO of the latter since 2013.
1. Chinese Luxury Consumption Repatriates: From Japan to Hong Kong
During the earnings call, Nicolas Bos broke down the “7% growth in Greater China in Q2,” highlighting the crucial role played by the Hong Kong and Macao markets, as well as subtle shifts within the Chinese Mainland.
“We did see improvement, particularly in the last quarter. In what we call Greater China, the growth was indeed driven by better performance in Hong Kong and Macao, including both visitors (i.e., tourists from the Chinese Mainland traveling to Hong Kong and Macao) and local customers (especially local customers in Hong Kong).“
“What we are seeing, I’m not sure I would call it stabilization, but the region returned to positive performance, including the Chinese Mainland slightly turning positive toward the end of the reporting period (i.e., in September), clearly driven by the jewelry segment.“
When analyzing Chinese consumers, Nicolas Bos mentioned an important trend twice: repatriation of spending. However, he clarified that this repatriation is not from overseas back to the Chinese Mainland, but rather from other overseas markets (such as Japan) back to Hong Kong.
“Overall, we observed a fairly significant repatriation in purchasing behavior among our Chinese Mainland clients, especially from Japan back to Hong Kong.”
Image above: Richemont Group booth at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai
2. China as a “High-Maturity” and “High-Spending Power” Key Market
Despite market fluctuations and changes in the growth pattern, Richemont executives reaffirmed their long-term commitment to the Chinese market, characterizing it as a key market with high maturity and strong purchasing power.
“The Chinese market is entering a brand-new, more mature phase.”
“We’ve already seen the market itself beginning to stabilize. Will it last? Have we hit bottom? We never know and cannot predict. But it seems to be stabilizing, both in the Chinese Mainland and in overall spending by Chinese Mainland tourists (whether domestic or travel-related).”
“If we can foresee anything, it’s that the market is indeed reaching another new level of complexity and quality in demand, similar to what we’re seeing in other parts of the world. This affects every brand, every category, every collection. But overall, it seems to be stabilizing,” added Nicolas Bos.
“What we are seeing is that certain brands remain extremely, extremely influential, and the appeal of certain collections and product lines, perhaps the most iconic and historically significant ones, is actually continuing to strengthen.“
“As for the Chinese market, I wouldn’t say we’re ‘very optimistic,’ but we are optimistic to a certain extent. It is a very, very mature culture. Clearly, there is high purchasing power. We can’t predict how it will evolve quarter by quarter. But we will continue to invest in our presence in China — investing in the quality of that presence, in the development of brand awareness and appeal, in our retail network, in exhibitions, and in events.”
“We believe this will remain a very, very important market, although we may no longer see the kind of (explosive) growth seen in previous years.”
3. Chinese Consumers Are More Demanding, Discerning, and Differentiating
During the earnings call, Nicolas Bos also shared insights on the evolving mindsets and behaviors of Chinese consumers.
“We now appear to be at a more stable level of purchasing power among Chinese clients.”
“What we’re broadly seeing is that Chinese consumption is evolving, and this may be related to economic conditions, but also to changes in taste. We are observing that Chinese clients, when choosing brands and building connections, are becoming much more demanding, discerning, and differentiating. This has had a positive effect on the jewelry division. We are still seeing a more challenging situation for some watch brands.”
Building on these consumer insights, Nicolas Bos further explained the divergence in performance among different business divisions in the Chinese market.
“What we’ve clearly seen recently is that the majority of our (watch) brands are stabilizing. Each has its own unique situation — for example, different regional weightings. Some brands have historically performed very well in Asia and China. Naturally, the slowdown in China has had a greater impact on them compared to brands with a stronger focus on the US or European markets.”
“China remains a very, very strong market for Cartier, but the team needs to ensure that Cartier is well-prepared for the next phase of the Chinese luxury industry.”
｜Source: Richemont Group earnings call
｜Image Credit: Group official website
｜Editor: LeZhi
