Luxury Brands Suffer As Chinese Recoil From Buying Expensive Goods

China's economic slowdown and a crackdown by Beijing on displays of wealth are taking a toll on some of the world's top luxury brands.

LVMH said its overall revenue growth slowed to 1% for the period.

LVMH says its sales in Asia, which include China but not Japan, fell by 14% in the three months to the end of June, worsening from a 6% decline in the first quarter, João da Silva reported for BBC News.

The Paris-based firm is not alone, as many of its competitors are also seeing sales slow in the world's second-largest economy.

Chinese shoppers are cutting back on expensive purchases, and government censors are shutting down social media accounts of influencers who have shown off their luxury goods online.

Popular influencers have seen their accounts deleted in a campaign that China's internet watchdog has said was aimed at banning "vulgar" and deliberately ostentatious content, Fan Wang also reported for BBC News.

LVMH, which is the world's largest luxury group with 75 brands, also said its overall revenue growth had slowed to 1% for the period. Still, the group's chairman and chief executive Bernard Arnault remained cautiously optimistic.

“The results for the first half of the year reflect LVMH’s remarkable resilience... in a climate of economic and geopolitical uncertainty." Arnault also told investors, “While remaining vigilant in the current context, the Group approaches the second half of the year with confidence."