The Nov. 11 promotion of leading online shopping platform tmall.com saw the inclusion of eight French brands in its array of sellers, according to a Global Times report, according to a Global Times report.
According to Emmanuel Lenain, consul general of France in Shanghai, the addition of the French brands to the lineup is an important move for French companies' online sales strategy in China following the French government's signing of an agreement in May with e-commerce giant Alibaba, which owns tmall.com.
"We just signed the agreement and we are testing. So we have a limited number of companies for November 11," said Lenain.
The official said that the French government focused on fewer than 10 French companies for this year, but they will expand next year.
"You can find these brands on tmall.com now, such as some French sports brands," Lenain said.
"What we want to share is a French lifestyle," he continued.
The brands, according to Global Times, include Le Coq Sportif, the oldest sports brand in France, which is offering 50-percent discounts on its products on Nov. 11.
The consul general said that tmall.com provides a good instruction of French brands to the Chinese market.
"If you have a look at how big online sales is in China, you will find that it's much more than in Europe and the U.S. It occupies a big part of the market," Lenain said.
The French official also said that while the economic ties between China and France have for a long time been rooted in big industries such as aeronautics and nuclear energy, they have now expanded to include goods like food and wine and services like health care.