Following a slow start due to COVID-19, China's luxury spending has rebounded strongly as global travel restrictions have pushed Chinese consumers to make more purchases domestically rather than from abroad.

The luxury market on the Chinese mainland is expected to climb by 48 percent year on year to reach almost 346 billion yuan (about $53 billion) this year. This growth has driven China to double its share of the global luxury market in 2020, with further growth expected through 2025, according to a joint research report by Bain & Company and Tmall Luxury Division.

The Chinese mainland's market share has nearly doubled from about 11 percent last year to 20 percent in 2020, the report titled China's Unstoppable 2020 Luxury Market said. The global luxury market shrank by 23 percent in 2020, it said.

"Through the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen the global luxury goods market shrink, as economic and social considerations have limited access," said Bruno Lannes, a Bain & Company senior partner based in Shanghai and one of the report's co-authors.

However, the Chinese mainland market has rebounded post-lockdown due to such factors as continuing digitalization and the Hainan duty-free stores -- a new factor with a key role in this year's growth, according to Lannes.

"One of the most exciting trends to come out of the luxury market in 2020 has been the ways that brands have actively developed and strengthened their connections to consumers both online and offline," said Chris Tung, chief marketing officer of Alibaba Group.

China's millennials (born between 1980 and 1995) and Gen Z consumers (born after 1995) are fueling growth in the luxury sector and exert a powerful influence over the increased digitization of brands, the report said.

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