Photo: Screenshot from Apple official website

International brands are in a frenzy of launching limited version to celebrate Chinese New Year, underscoring the importance of the Chinese market for brands seeking more revenue due to coronavirus pandemic.

"The limited version of female down jacket has been sold out," sales called herself Crystal from Moncler told the Global Times in Beijing on Friday.

What she said is regarding the Italian luxury coat maker, which for the first time created a series of products for the Year of the Ox and the products hit the market for about one week. 

Although the price of their products, for example the female down jacket with stars design is 18,550 yuan ($2,870) per piece, Chinese consumers still find out they can only buy the clothes by order now. 

Moncler is not alone, as more brands are wooing Chinese customers by launching special edition version, Apple could serve another example. 

In celebration of Chinese New Year which falls on February 12, Apple on Thursday launched a special edition version of the AirPods Pro that features an Ox icon.

With a price at 1,999 yuan, the product is featured with an ox engraved on the charging case. The product is shipped in a box that has the same ox icon on it. 

Apple says that the ox-themed AirPods Pro are in short supply, with a total of 25,400 available. 11,480 of those will be sold in retail stores, while 13,920 are available online

"Here comes a box of blessings for the Year of the Ox," Apple said on its official WeChat account.

Other fashion and watch brands such as French luggage brand Longchamp, Vans and Swatch also launched products with elements of the Year of the Ox. 

The promotional moves behind those giants are widely believed to grab more revenues as China has been regarded as a rising consumption power as the economy has been on track to recovery.

Chinese mainland's luxury goods market will likely achieve 48 percent growth in 2020, reaching nearly 346 billion yuan, a Bain report said in December, adding China is on track to become the biggest luxury market by 2025, as wealthy Chinese consumers travel less and splurge more on their home turf.

There has been a wave of luxury brands opening stores on Tmall such as Gucci, Cartier, Prada and Dior have all opened online stores last year. 

National Bureau of Statistics showed that in August 2020, the year-on-year growth rate of total retail sales of consumer goods began to turn from negative to positive. The contribution of final consumer expenditure to economic growth in the third quarter has risen to 34.9 percent.