(Yicai) April 2 -- L'Oréal remains committed to increasing its investment in China based on the French cosmetics giant’s confidence in the country's economic growth, according to the chief executive officer of its Chinese business.

“With a long-term commitment, we will continue to deepen our presence in China, seizing opportunities from beauty's socio-economic impact, enhancing our proximity to Chinese consumers, and elevating the game with strategic investments,” Vincent Bionay said at L’Oréal China's annual strategy development briefing in Shanghai on March 31.

“We firmly believe that investing in China means investing in the future,” Bionay said.

Faced with the uncertainty and instability of today's world, L’Oréal’s confidence in the Chinese beauty market stems from the certainty and stability brought by China's high-quality development, said Bionay, who is also L’Oréal’s North Asia president.

The global economy is entering a new paradigm, which will come with some persistent challenges, he noted. The Chinese market is also evolving rapidly, but Bionay pointed to positive signs of stability, including the economy moving into a stable growth phase, a new framework for expanding domestic demand and boosting consumption, and new quality productive forces emerging as key growth drivers.

The maker of Telescopic Original Mascara and Elvive shampoo agreed with Tiantu Capital on March 31 to jointly set up a beauty industry navigation fund and a beauty industry future fund focusing on investment, incubation, and technological innovation in the Chinese beauty industry.

This is not the first time that L'Oréal has created an investment vehicle in China. In May 2022, it established Shanghai Meicifang Investment, with a business scope encompassing asset management services, investment management, and investment in startups. Since then, Meicifang has invested in several Chinese biotech firms and local cosmetics brands.

As a key industry in the bilateral cooperation between China and France, the beauty industry promotes exchanges in various fields, L'Oréal China said. It cited statistics from French economic consulting firm Asterès, showing that L'Oréal provides more than 330,000 direct and indirect jobs in China.

Editor: Futura Costaglione