China's selfie revolution will help L'Oreal thrive

China’s economy is set for a gradual slowdown, but according to L’Oreal it has confidence in its Chinese business.

L’Oreal is the largest cosmetics company in the world, and has said that the growing Chinese middle class with its increasing purchasing power will help the company grow in the region.

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According to CNBC, L’Oreal’s China CEO Stephanie Rinderknech said: “The growth potential is I believe unlimited in China because of this rise of middle class… if we can really continue to be consumer-centric and to innovate in China for Chinese, as we do currently with our research and innovation centre in Pudong, then the growth rate can be really phenomenal in China… I’m very confident for next year.”

She continued: “I think the economy slowing down is maybe in GDP growth but I think we’re really going towards quality… more quality and more sophistication of consumers. Consumers that want more and more beauty.

“China is much ahead in the digital revolution and the selfie is making you really be willing to improve your self-expression. This is why there’s a boom in makeup, a boom in hair colour. You want to have your individual personality, your individual appearance, your self-expression. And this is a huge trend we’re seeing in China, with a scale of hundreds of millions of people.”

L’Oreal says it is confident that trends in the beauty and wellness markets means Chinese consumers are unlikely to reduce their spending on skincare and cosmetics.