PARIS, April 2 (Xinhua) — L’Oreal is optimistic, confident and ambitious in the short and long term regarding China, said Fabrice Megarbane, President of L’Oreal North Asia and Managing Director of L’Oreal China.
“We have already seen potential opportunities in the market, which makes us even more optimistic about China’s economic prospects,” Megarbane said in a recent interview with Xinhua.
Since the first week of February, traffic and consumer purchases have shown positive signs and L’Oréal expects a gradual rebound from the second quarter as well as a return of consumer enthusiasm in all categories, according to Mr. Megarbane.
Since its establishment in the mainland of China in 1997, L’Oréal has enjoyed success there year after year. In 2022, an extremely difficult year full of uncertainties, the cosmetics giant has again achieved significant offline and online market share gains in China.
“As we enter our second 25 years in China, we are entering a new era of development focused on innovation and quality, which is fully in line with China’s economic development roadmap,” remarked Mr. Megarbane.
With new consumer potentials continuing to emerge, L’Oreal plans to reach an additional 100 million Chinese consumers by 2030, he added.
“We have always invested in China over the past 25 years and will continue to invest in China in the future,” he pledged.
In China, L’Oréal has a research and innovation center and two factories. “The stable end-to-end supply chain and the two stand-alone factories provide strong support not only for our business in China, but also for the whole group, especially in the context of VICA (Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous) world,” said Mr. Megarbane.
“China has a unique, advanced digital and technology ecosystem, which is becoming the origin of open innovation for L’Oréal,” he continued. “In the medium and long term, China is not only a growth engine for the group, but it occupies a strategic position in terms of innovation (digital + beauty tech), sustainability and talent.”
In 2022, L’Oréal established its first country/market level investment company in China, aiming to cooperate with more partners in China to explore more innovative companies, nurture future innovations and promote their commercialization .
Mr. Megarbane also noted that China is building a unified domestic market that is highly efficient, fair and open.
“The dual circulation policy has brought China and the international market closer together than ever before. Every year, the CIIE (China International Import Expo) is a great discovery. We would like to assist and support the CIIE to become better and better,” he said.
“The pace of reforms is accelerating, the efficiency of their implementation is increasing, China’s opening-up door is widening, and the business environment is improving, which boosts our confidence in the Chinese market.” , concluded the general manager of L’Oréal China. END