LONDON — LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton strengthened its bond with China on Wednesday by signing a strategic partnership with Swire Properties, the developer behind the high-profile luxury shopping franchise Taikoo series, during the seventh China International Import Expo in Shanghai.
A subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based, British-originated global conglomerate Swire, whose ties with China date back to the 19th century, Swire Properties is one of China’s most prominent luxury retail developers and operators with projects in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Xi’an, Sanya and Hong Kong.
Billed as “the most comprehensive tenant-landlord partnership” with respect to driving sustainability, the agreement aims to propel those business practices as laid out through LVMH’s LIFE 360 environmental road map and Swire Properties’ sustainable development 2030 strategy.
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As part of the deal, LVMH will be the launch partner for a green retail partnership initiative that focuses on sustainable improvements in retail environments.
It introduces a jointly developed framework called the Eco-design Checklist, which details 15 impactful measures for achieving sustainable store designs and fit-outs for new LVMH retail and office premises, including the future upgrading of existing stores and fitting out new stores, across Swire-owned developments in the Greater China region.
The total impacted gross floor area for all stores and offices is around 538,000 square feet.
The partnership will continue until the end of 2027 and is expected to be renewed thereafter.
Antoine Arnault, image and environment director at LVMH, said the partnership with Swire Properties “allows us to strengthen our environmental strategy and implement the concrete actions we have established globally to achieve our low-carbon goals.”
Han Zhi, director of retail at Swire Properties, said the partnership with its long-term tenant partner LVMH can amplify its sustainability impact and share expertise that can help set even more ambitious sustainability goals among its Chinese mainland and Hong Kong portfolio.
“We have been widely recognized for our global leadership in sustainability within the real estate industry and we believe that making a real impact on climate change requires collaboration. Through innovative sustainability partnerships such as this new collaboration with LVMH, we can achieve common sustainability goals and accelerate our overall ESG performance,” he added.
LVMH has been a close collaborator with Swire Properties for decades. Its star brands, such as Louis Vuitton, Dior and Bulgari have been given some of the best locations across Swire-owned developments.
In Beijing, for example, Vuitton and Dior took over two out of three stand-alone buildings at the heart of the Taikoo Li Sanlitun North Complex, due to open next year.
In Shanghai, Vuitton has the exclusive rights to a permanent pop-up space at the center of Taikoo Li Qiantan, which now hosts the brand’s first chocolate store in China. The brand’s reservation-only Objets Nomades space sits within Zhangyuan, Shanghai’s first “protective urban regeneration project,” a venture between Shanghai Jing’an Real Estate Group and Swire Properties.
In the third quarter of 2024 ending Sept. 30, Swire Properties across mainland China saw various degrees of decline in retail sales, but the company remains fully committed to the region.
In August, the company said it aims to invest 100 billion Hong Kong dollars, or $12.8 billion, in mainland China in the near future.
Key projects to be revealed in the next five years include Taikoo Place Beijing Phase Two, Taikoo Li Xi’an, Taikoo Li Sanya, Lujiazui Taikoo Yuan in Shanghai, the New Bund project adjacent to Taikoo Li Qiantan Shanghai, Julong Wan Project in Guangzhou, and the expansion of Taikoo Hui Guangzhou.