French department store Galeries Lafayette says it plans to capitalise on Chinese consumer spending by opening 10 stores in the country by 2025.

The plan was announced at the opening of its second China store covering 25,000sqm in Shanghai’s Pudong district.

The company’s CEO Nicolas Houze said that China is its second largest market after France and at the core of its international expansion strategy.  

“It will be hard for us to expand a lot more in France. China is a great opportunity for us,” he said.

He added that even in France, Chinese customers account for 20 per cent of sales.

The company, which generated around €4.5 billion (US$4.9 billion) last year, believes China sales will account for 15 per cent of its overall sales by 2025.   

Through the messaging, social media and mobile payment app WeChat, it will launch a mini-program to publicise the latest fashion information and engage with Chinese customers.

Galeries Lafayette China stores are run by the company ́s local partner IT Limited, which opened the first store in Beijing in 2013.