Some of China’s most high-profile billionaire tech barons have seen their fortunes fade in 2021, but new business models and market trends have driven vast wealth creation for others.

This year’s biggest winners may have been China’s uber-wealthy business leaders, who amassed an astonishing amount of wealth despite the global pandemic. Many of them have fashion to thank for part of their fortunes.

As this year’s Singles’ Day festival approaches, video apps like Douyin and Kuaishou have joined the throng of tech companies jostling to steal a slice of market share from giants like Tmall and JD.com.

The decline in international travel has hit duty free retail hard this year, but sales to domestic travellers in China with nowhere else to go are booming in places like Hainan.

China was driving the global jewellery market long before the pandemic. Now the clock is ticking for smaller players who want to get a piece of the pie before big brands take an even larger share.

Despite a stronger recovery than most, China is not immune from the economic pain of the pandemic. Are global brands ready for the challenges that China’s ‘new normal’ will bring?

Brands can learn a lot from the case of Michael Jordan vs Qiaodan Sports. Not only does it provide a cautionary tale about protecting IP rights in China but the legal dispute also shines a new light on the $3 billion sneaker brand at a time of rapid growth.

How can the recent performance of giants like Hermès, LVMH, Kering, Li-Ning and L'Oréal help other brands prepare for the next phase of China’s post-pandemic recovery?