China becoming new source of 'good consumption'
The ongoing Two Sessions (the annual meetings of the National People's Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference) are destined to have a profound impact on the entire world.
As one of the first nations to have brought COVID-19 under control, China is sending a positive signal to the world about economic recovery and open cooperation and demonstrating what it means to be a responsible major country.
Not only will the Two Sessions sketch out the direction for China’s future development, they will also inject positive energy into the common and shared development of China and the world.
As a globalized company, L’Oréal has been entrenching itself in the China market for 23 years.
We have witnessed, benefited from and contributed to China’s reform and opening-up as well as development.
In this unusual year, we have further witnessed the unity and perseverance of the Chinese people.
Solidarity, cooperation and decisive action are powerful weapons that can help us overcome fear and panic in the face of challenge.
On February 10, supported by Chinese government’s effective prevention and control measures, and with proactive suggestions and guidance from government agencies at all levels, L’Oréal China began its orderly resumption of operations.
The epidemic will not stop Chinese people’s quest for a better life.
Concepts like quality, healthy, rational and responsible consumptions — these kinds of “good consumption” — are in the foreground.
In the meantime, the beauty industry has also identified broader opportunities.
Given stabilization and improvement of the situation after the epidemic broke out, Chinese government has taken a host of measures to stimulate consumption.
Shanghai government has also proposed a focus on “raising the quality level of consumption” with the launch of the Double Five Shopping Festival that has effectively boosted consumer confidence, unleashed demand and brought tangible benefits to enterprises and consumers alike.
Since April, we have introduced over 100 new products from over 10 brands that are the first of their kind in the world.
The offline traffic over the Labor Day holiday has been more or less the same as it was before the epidemic in many of our stores, and we have broken a number of sales records with our newly launched products in their respective product categories.
It shows peoples’ desire for a better life after COVID-19.
A leader in innovation
China is the world’s second-largest consumer market and continues to grow, and its role in the global economy and supply chain will only become greater. Such important measures of opening-up as the setting up of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone and the China International Import Expo are important indicators of the scale of China’s economy and consumer market, and hint at China’s potential as a leader in terms of scientific research, innovation and improvement of the business environment.
L’Oréal was among the first companies to confirm its participation in the third CIIE in November as well as one of the attendees for three expos in a row.
Our preparations for participation never stop.
We are confident that this year, we will continue to bring more innovative and good consumer products to China and the world.
Today, China is already L’Oréal’s second market in the world.
China and the rest of the world have never been more closely linked.
Early this year, we announced our new strategy in China — HUGE Good Strategy.
The emphasis is on “Horizons” — to bring more global opportunities to China while sharing more opportunities with the rest of the world at the same time.
Next week, we will launch our Beauty Technology Challenge for startups in China in order to leverage the power of our ecosystem to support more innovators in China and thus tap the potential of the integration of emerging technologies and the beauty industry to create new possibilities for a better life for people in the future.
We believe that a China that continues to become more resilient and more open, a China where hundreds of millions of people yearn for a better life and a China that has never been more important in the global value chain will definitely create bigger opportunities for our development.
L’Oréal will continue its efforts to entrench itself in China’s market and make beauty a positive energy that can help even more Chinese people in their pursuit of a better life.
We will also join hands with even more partners to support China so that it may become the new source of trend for “good consumption” around the world.
(Fabrice Megarbane is president and CEO of L’Oréal China. The views are his own.)