SHANGHAI — Tackling the global pricing debate is critical for the future of luxury retailers and brands in mainland China. That’s the view of Andrew Keith, chief executive officer and president of Lane Crawford, who said pricing is “the most relevant and live discussion we are having at the moment,” when asked how the company intends to handle the influx of lower-priced goods into China. Luxury retailers operating on the Mainland face mounting pressure from outside as more and more Chinese shoppers travel abroad to buy their luxury products. Inside China, government tariffs on luxury imports can inflate prices by as much as 60 percent. A study by Bain & Co. last year revealed that 70 percent of luxury brands bought by Chinese shoppers are purchased abroad or through daigou agencies — overseas personal shoppers who buy and send luxury goods to customers in China. Korea and Japan were the top travel destinations in 2014. “I don’t see this as [being] particularly about China; it’s a global pricing discussion and there are a number of brands now starting to address it,” said Keith, who was talking at the Great Festival of Creativity here on Wednesday. “Industry-wise, this is something people are going to have
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