Oriental Beauty Valley proves attractive
An aerial view of the Shanghai Hangzhou Bay Development Zone in Fengxian District.
Leading cosmetics firms from Japan are eager to cooperate with Shanghai's Oriental Beauty Valley in the southern outskirt.
Over 300 companies from home and abroad, with many from Japan, participated in an investment promotion meeting hosted by the Shanghai Hangzhou Bay Development Zone in Fengxian District, where the valley stands in the core area.
About 50 company officials attended the meeting on Tuesday while over 100,000 people watched a livestream of the event.
An increasing number of Japanese companies and organizations are showing interest in the valley amid the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic and due to the optimized business environment of Fengxian, said Wang Gengshen, deputy director of the district’s economic commission.
Companies based in the valley made great contributions to the fight against COVID-19 during the height of the pandemic, according to Fengxian’s investment promotion office.
Local company Biogerm, for instance, was one of the first manufacturers of the coronavirus detection reagent. An injection developed by Kai Bao Pharmaceutical Co has been listed one of the key medicines for those infected with COVID-19.
“The district aims to attract quality Japanese health industry companies to the valley to create a cluster featuring Japanese medicines and health products,” Wang said. Over 70 companies including Japanese firm Nisshin Oillio expressed investment intentions after the meeting.
Fengxian officials launch the Health Industry Center of the Oriental Beauty Valley to offer preferential policies and services to companies to be based there.
The district launched a Health Industry Center for the valley at the meeting to offer preferential policies and services to companies to be based there.
Fengxian aims the valley to be on par with France’s Cosmetic Valley in Eure-et-Loir and Loiret and Japan’s Saito Life Science Park in Osaka. It has attracted some 100 companies specializing in cosmetics, bio-medicine and food.
The district government expects the value of cosmetics and health products manufactured in the valley to reach 100 billion yuan (US$14 billion) by 2025.
In March, cosmetics company Shiseido announced the setting up of a research facility in the valley to drive technology innovation. It is part of the city government’s efforts to connect beauty companies and relevant players to boost economic development.
The Shiseido site will focus on environmental and sustainability-related research and share resources with partners in the valley.
Masahiko Uotani, president and group CEO of Shiseido in Japan, said China is the source of innovation for the brand's global strategy. "We see the future of China as the future of our business," he told the 2nd Oriental Beauty Valley International Cosmetics Conference in Shanghai last year.
An aerial view of the innovation park at Oriental Beauty Valley in Fengxian District.
