Aug 6 (Reuters) - Zalando said on Tuesday it

would open a new tech site in China's tech-hub Shenzhen, but it

was not planning to expand its marketplace to China at this

point in time.

The Chinese tech centre would allow the German online

fashion retailer to tap into local expertise in social commerce

and integrate that with the company's knowledge of the European

e-commerce market, finance chief Sandra Dembeck said on an

investor call following Zalando's second-quarter results.

Zalando said it currently had no plans to expand its

e-commerce platform to China.

The company, which serves around 50 million active customers

in 25 markets across Europe, has recently focused on

higher-priced brands and sportswear as it competes with

low-priced retailers such as Shein, introducing its own sports

collection and launching sports brands such as Lululemon, Hoka,

and On Running in recent quarters.

These premium sportswear brands are seeing robust growth in

China, as health and wellness have become a priority for

aspirational, middle class consumers since the pandemic, with

many people taking up activities such as yoga, hiking and

running for the first time.

"We are still focused on tapping into the growth

opportunities that Europe has to offer and are sure that our

tech site in China will contribute to achieve our goals,"

Zalando said in an email.

Growth in China's once-thriving e-commerce industry has

slowed recently, dragged by a sluggish economy.