[Explanation] Recently, under the guidance of the Internet Communication Bureau of the Central Cyberspace Administration of China, the "New Era, New Opportunities-Multinational Enterprises in China" online theme promotion media group organized by the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee Internet Information Office and China News Network visited many multinational enterprises.
L'Oreal, the world's largest cosmetics group, entered the Chinese mainland market in 1997. At present, China has become the second largest market of L'Oreal Group in the world. Fabril, president of L'Oreal North Asia and China CEO, said in an interview that L'Oreal has been deeply involved in China for 25 years. In the future, investment in China will also be increased. The establishment of Shanghai Meicifang Investment Co., Ltd. in 2022 will make L'Oreal China the only branch of L'Oreal Group that has established an investment company so far.
[Concurrent] President of L'Oreal North Asia and CEO of China Fabri
Last year, we announced a very important milestone investment.
On the one hand, the clean workshop of our Suzhou factory was officially launched. At the same time, we also started the foundation laying of the world's first self-built intelligent operation center in Suzhou, which is expected to be officially put into operation in September this year.
In addition, we also established the first investment company in the Chinese market - Shanghai Meicifang Investment Co., Ltd. and announced the first venture capital investment in China, and we will have more investments in the future.
We will continue our investment journey in China. We have been deeply involved in China for 25 years and are very confident about the future. We are positive, optimistic and ambitious about the prospects of the Chinese market.
[Explanation] Fabri said that as a multinational company with its regional headquarters in Shanghai, L'Oreal has maintained good cooperation with the local government for a long time, and a series of policies and services have facilitated L'Oreal's innovation work.
[Concurrent] President of L'Oreal North Asia and CEO of China Fabri
We have felt strong support from the Shanghai government and relevant institutions.
The headquarters of L'Oreal North Asia is located in Jing'an District, Shanghai. We have maintained very close cooperation with the district government here. The government has given us a lot of support at the policy level, so that we can bring more innovations to the market.
Take one of our personalized skin care services as an example. We demonstrated this service at the CIIE a few years ago. Now I am very happy that in the pilot project in Pudong, our related services and products will usher in the market. .
This shows that Shanghai has a bright future in terms of innovation and responsible consumption, as well as strong economic growth.
[Explanation] Fabri said that L'Oreal is a participant and witness of China's opening up to the outside world. With the continuous improvement of China's opening up to the outside world, China's beauty market will continue to grow.
[Concurrent] President of L'Oreal North Asia and CEO of China Fabri
First of all, I would like to say that L'Oreal has been deeply involved in the Chinese market for many years.
We have witnessed the opening of the Chinese market and the needs of policies, and we have continued to develop in China over the past few years.
We regard 2023 as a new era, and we will help China's opening up and bring more opportunities.
We are closely watching the gradual rebound in the market.
We believe that the market will perform better in the second quarter than in the same period last year, and we expect to increase in the second half of this year.
We have seen that consumers have never stopped consuming beauty-related products, which also confirms the growth achieved by L'Oreal China last year, and even the growth in the past few years.
We believe that the Chinese beauty market will continue to grow.
Zhang Jian, Zhou Sunyu, Li Qiuying reported from Shanghai
Editor in charge: [Liu Xingchen]