The hashtag #BoycottBalenciagaDiscriminatesAgainstChinese has been viewed at least 29 million times on Chinese social media platform Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter.

"Balenciaga shoes are beautiful, but such an episode is an eye-opener," said one Weibo user. Another wrote: "You can say goodbye to the Chinese market."

Image caption : It is common to see long lines of customers from China and other countries outside luxury stores in Paris.

In a statement in Mandarin posted on Weibo, Balenciaga said it regretted the incident and noted that security guards had acted quickly to restore calm.

"Balenciaga sincerely apologises to the customers who were present and reaffirms its strong commitment to respect equally all its customers," it said.

Printemps said that staff would receive additional training to ensure they manage such situations in the best possible way.

"We would like to extend our sincerest apologies to the Chinese customers involved in this altercation as well as to all those who were upset or inconvenienced in any way," the department store said.

Paris is a favourite European destination of Chinese travellers, who are a crucial market for luxury brands.

Just this week, Kering reported a 27% jump in sales, partly as a result of a recovery in spending by wealthy Chinese shoppers

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