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Longchamp eyes China expansion

French luxury handbag maker Longchamp is eyeing a huge expansion in China despite the country's economic slowdown, its chief executive said as the firm opened a new store in Hong Kong Wednesday.

The 64-year-old family-owned brand, famous for its coloured fold-up nylon and leather totes, said it was optimistic about the Asian market, especially China, as European economies – its main markets – remain "unfavourable".

"We have no intentions to slow down our expansion plans, especially in Asia," chief executive Jean Cassegrain, a grandson of the founder, told AFP.

He said he had no concerns about China, adding:  "The purchasing power of Chinese consumers continue to increase and it is not going to change" even as the Asian powerhouse's economy slowed.

The 400-square-metre (4,300-square-feet) outlet is Longchamp's second mega store in Hong Kong and is located in Kowloon, one of the city's busiest shopping districts where mainland Chinese tourists flock to splurge on luxury goods.

Cassegrain said Longchamp is looking to expand its current presence of seven stores in mainland China – including Beijing and Shanghai – to about 40 to 50 stores, although he could not specify a timeline.

"The challenge is to pick the right locations," he said, adding that Longchamp has appointed popular Chinese actress Gao Yuanyuan as its ambassador to boost the brand's profile in the region.

China's economy expanded 7.6 percent in the second quarter of this year, its worst performance in three years, and disappointing data since then has led to fears that third-quarter growth may have weakened further.

Third-quarter data is due out on Thursday. Longchamp saw turnover of €390 million ($507 million) last year, up 22percent from a year earlier.

China is set to become the world's second biggest market for luxury goods after the United States by 2017, overtaking France, Britain, Italy and Japan, consumer research group Euromonitor said in a report this month.

Luxury-good sales could top $302 billion worldwide this year, up 4.0 percent from 2011, driven by demand in emerging economies, according to the report.

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CHINA

China derides Copenhagen democracy meet as ‘political farce’

China on Tuesday blasted a democracy conference in Copenhagen attended by Taiwan's president and a Hong Kong activist alongside Danish government officials this week, qualifying it a "political farce".

China derides Copenhagen democracy meet as 'political farce'
Demonstrators gathered outside the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday. Photo: Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix

The Copenhagen Democracy Summit was held Monday and Tuesday in the Danish capital and organised by the Alliance of Democracies, an organisation targeted by Beijing sanctions in March and founded by former NATO boss Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

In addition to Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen and Hong Kong democracy activist Nathan Law, Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod also participated in the forum by video link, which Beijing said violated “the one-China principle.”

“This summit is a political farce,” the Chinese embassy in Denmark wrote in a statement published on Tuesday. “Inviting those who advocate Taiwan and Hong Kong ‘independence’ to the meeting violates the one-China principle and interferes in China’s internal affairs,” it said.

“Some hypocritical western politicians are good at meddling in other countries’ internal affairs and creating divisions and confrontation in the name of ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom’. They are bound to fail,” it added.

At the conference on Monday, Kofod said it was “deplorable” that Beijing had imposed sanctions on 10 European individuals and organisations in response to EU sanctions on Xinjiang officials over their actions against the Uyghur Muslim minority.

Like most countries, Denmark applies the one-China principle — under which Beijing bars other countries from having simultaneous diplomatic relations with Taipei — though it does maintain relations with Taiwan.

Cut off politically from the rest of China since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the territory is self-governing but is not recognised by
the United Nations.

Beijing considers Taiwan a rebel province that will one day return under its control, by force if necessary.

China’s sabre-rattling has increased considerably over the past year, with fighter jets and nuclear-capable bombers breaching Taiwan’s air defence zone on a near-daily basis.

“Our government is fully aware of the threats to regional security, and is actively enhancing our national defence capabilities to protect our
democracy,” Tsai told the conference in a video address on Monday. US President Joe Biden is expected to present his China strategy soon, as
calls mount for him to publicly commit to defending Taiwan militarily in the event of a Chinese attack.

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