LVMH billionaire CEO Bernard Arnault arrives in China

Bernard Arnault, the billionaire CEO of LVMH, has arrived in China, accompanied with his daughter and the head of the Louis Vuitton brand, as Beijing seeks closer contact with foreign executives.

The French entrepreneur was spotted at a high-end shopping mall in Beijing on Tuesday, Global Times tweeted, citing photos taken circulating on a Chinese social media platform. Louis Vuitton Chief Executive Officer Pietro Beccari is joining him on this trip as well as his daughter Delphine Arnault, who heads Christian Dior Couture, people familiar with the trip have said, declining to be named discussing the billionaire’s whereabouts. The itinerary includes meetings with local teams in several cities, the people said.

Bloomberg News was first to report earlier that Arnault was preparing for his first trip to China since the pandemic. LVMH and Dior declined to comment, while a representative for Louis Vuitton didn’t immediately reply when asked to comment.

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Beijing has been rolling out the red carpet for global business leaders — including JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon and Tesla Inc. founder Elon Musk — to calm fears the country is becoming more hostile toward foreign capital and to counter the political agenda of Western nations urging less reliance on China.

Asked last week about what the brand plans to do with recently appointed menswear designer Pharrell Williams to cater to its customers in China, Beccari said Chinese “are very important clients and fans of Louis Vuitton for sure,” and “sooner or later, the brand will address ourselves to them.”