PARIS (Reuters) -Birkin bag maker Hermes signalled a slight improvement in key market China as it reported a 9.6% rise in third quarter sales on Wednesday, outpacing peers as rich shoppers splashed out on its $10,000 handbags. The cautiously optimistic comments on Chinese shoppers, accounting for roughly a third of global luxury sales, came after other major players, including LVMH and L’Oreal, flagged a similar uptick. Sales of leather goods, which include its classic Birkin, Constance and Kelly handbag models and account for nearly half of annual sales, were up 13.3%. High-end fashion brands have been grappling with weaker demand in key market China, which has been hit with a property crisis and volatility in the United States as trade wars flare up. ($1 = 0.8575 euros)(Reporting by Mimosa Spencer, editing by Tassilo Hummel and Alessandro Parodi)