L’Oréal in China
L’Oréal continued to maintain its position as the No. 1 beauty company in China in a challenging market in 2024, thanks to its unique portfolio of desirable brands and a deep understanding of Chinese consumers’ beauty aspirations.
Vincent Boinay
We remain confident in the future of the Chinese beauty market. Innovation and investment are key to giving us the speed, scale and superiority to meet the evolving needs of this region’s increasingly knowledgeable and beauty-savvy consumers and seize growth opportunities in all beauty categories. We firmly believe that innovating and investing in China is an investment for the future.
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2nd
L’Oréal’s 2nd biggest market
2ndL’Oréal’s 2nd biggest market
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No. 1
L’Oréal is the beauty leader in China
No. 1L’Oréal is the beauty leader in China
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Best ESG Employer Award
Best ESG Employer Award
Innovating for product quality and superiority
In 2024, L’Oréal Luxe broadened its reach thanks to the appeal of new couture brand offerings, as seen in successful launches like Yves Saint Laurent’s LoveShine lipstick and Valentino’s new Anatomy of Dreams fragrance collection. Premium skincare products, like Lancôme’s Génifique Ultimate serum – the result of 27 years of research in skin repair science – helped to strengthen our position as the leader in luxury skincare in China.
The Consumer Products Division continued to democratise beauty over social media and premiumise its product offering. The Little Honey Pot Cream Gen II from L’Oréal Paris introduced the revolutionary ingredient Recombinant Collagen, combining cutting-edge actives, to deliver exceptional anti-aging efficacy and an elevated sensory experience, rapidly becoming a widely-loved cream. A special gift set, featuring a limited-edition French lipstick together with twin cups made of fine porcelain, was created to mark the 60th anniversary of Sino-French diplomatic relations, celebrated at a beauty exhibition visited by over one million visitors.
Dermatological Beauty outpaced the Chinese dermocosmetics market, thanks to science-led innovations. These included the launch of La Roche-Posay’s Mela B3 serum, with groundbreaking Melasyl™ molecule, for skin pigmentation issues, and CeraVe’s new Hydrating Soothing Cleanser, specially developed for Chinese consumers to address increased skin sensitivity. SkinCeuticals China, in partnership with a top biotechnology company, launched a new skincare protocol with a ready-to-use collagen product for the medical aesthetics market.
Professional Products saw robust growth driven by its omnichannel strategy and disruptive haircare innovations, including the revamped Kérastase Elixir Ultime range and revolutionary Beauty Tech innovation hairdryer AirLight Pro, which debuted at the 7th China International Import Expo (CIIE). In Shanghai, the annual Le Hair Show celebrated innovative hair design from top Chinese and French artists and stylists, with a Chinese hairstylist winning the L’Oréal Professionnel Colour Trophy. China is now the second largest market worldwide for Kérastase.
Investing for the future
L’Oréal has continued to invest strategically in China despite the market slowdown, recognising the country’s future potential, in particular the growth in urban middle classes that will bring nearly 160 million additional consumers by 2030. Luxe expanded its footprint to meet rising consumer desire for beauty and wellness experiences with 165 new stores, including 72 across 39 tier one, two and three cities and the opening of 13 Aēsop boutiques. L’Oréal has also invested in high growth categories like fragrance through its Meicifang and BOLD corporate venture funds, which have taken minority stakes in the Chinese fragrance startups To Summer and Documents over recent years.
To meet the speed and scale of demand in China, particularly in e-commerce, which represents well over half of sales in China, L’Oréal inaugurated its smart fulfilment centre in Suzhou. Equipped with digital solutions and advanced technologies, it boosts operational capacity and agility, enabling teams to process 50 million parcels annually optimising our direct-to-consumer service.
L’Oréal is committed to open innovation, showcased by our BIG BANG Beauty Tech Innovation Programme in China connecting us with startups to co-create innovative beauty products and experiences. In 2024, BIG BANG expanded to cover all five North Asian markets and has now been launched in L’Oréal’s SAPMENA region. Collaboration with Chinese startups from BIG BANG resulted in 2024 innovations such as Lancôme Rénergie NANO-RESURFACER | 400 BOOSTER.
Inspiring and empowering people
As a people-centric company, we are committed to supporting talents in an inspiring and inclusive working culture and developing our future leaders. Over 300 trainees annually benefit from our robust management development programmes.
Initiatives like Brandstorm, L’Oréal’s youth innovation competition for under 30s, is an effective way to attract and introduce young talent to the Group. In 2024, over 22,500 Chinese students participated in our global challenge to reinvent the future of hairstyling. Working with five partner universities, L’Oréal connected with students through masterclasses and open days, and gave a high-profile launch to the 2025 Brandstorm at CIIE.
The L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science programme celebrated its 20th anniversary in China, recognising over 200 exceptional Chinese researchers since its launch. To encourage interest in science and inspire future careers, L’Oréal also launched For Girls in Science, offering on-campus lectures, out-of-school visits and popular science video courses to over 100,000 schoolgirls annually.
In 2024, Beauty for a Better Life marked its 10th anniversary, empowering over 13,000 vulnerable women in the past decade, primarily in rural areas, through socio-aesthetic training. This programme has enabled 80% of participants to secure employment and 8% to launch their own business.
