Amorepacific celebrating three decades of confidence in Chinese market

This year marks the 45th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up, and to celebrate that milestone the country is ramping up efforts to integrate with the global community through an open mindset while exploring new channels for international economic and trade cooperation to enhance its influence on the world stage.

Amorepacific, a globally renowned cosmetics giant, has been in the Chinese market for 31 years amid the deepening of the country's reform and high-level opening-up. By participating in the China International Import Expo, or CIIE, for six consecutive years, the South Korea-based company has gained a more profound understanding of the country's macro policies, industry development and consumer trends.

Amorepacific is demonstrating its steadfast confidence in the Chinese market and mapping out plans in such key aspects as customer-oriented product innovation, digital transformation and sustainable development.

Shine on CIIE

Themed with "Wisdom and Goodness, Beauty for the Future", Amorepacific's booth at the ongoing sixth CIIE in Shanghai showcases the group's achievements in the fields of green beauty and research and development over the years, with more than 800 products and over 10 new items under its major brands Sulwhasoo, Laneige, Innisfree, Mamonde, Ryo and Miseen-Scene.

At this year's expo, Amorepacific has created an aesthetic space that integrates natural inspiration with modern technology. Covering 504 square meters, the open exhibition area incorporates unique aesthetic values under the concept of "Journey of Beauty", retracing and savoring the company's original intentions, accomplishments and vision of creating a more beautiful world for more than 70 years.

Using curved design elements, the booth includes Exploration of Origins, Appreciating the Present and Shining the Future as its three core areas. The gentle and flowing curves bring a novel visual experience to visitors, increasing the fun of the space and allowing them to embark on the "Journey of Beauty "in an immersive manner.

The booth's History Zone reproduces the most popular makeup styles with products of each decade from the 1950s to the present with a row of retro light boxes; the Product Display Zone showcases star products leading the trend in Asia; the Cutting-edge Beauty Technology Zone provides a comprehensive view of innovative patented ingredients and beauty technology under the New Beauty vision; and the Green Beauty Zone presents the carbon footprint of products throughout their life cycle as well as five sustainability commitments.

There is also an exhibition area for award-winning works, in which Amorepacific displays its outstanding achievements in products, packaging, communication and dissemination, and the Shining the Future Zone specially creates a healing space for visitors to rest, with the outer layer covered in moss and the interior playing a series of creative videos produced by the group's incubated visual team Healing Times.

Steady progress

In 1992, Amorepacific entered the Chinese market amid the establishment of China-South Korea diplomatic relations. Today, China has become one of the company's most important overseas markets. The company has introduced well-known brands such as Sulwhasoo, Laneige, Innisfree, Mamonde, Ryo and Mise-en-Scene to the China market and provided consumers with a wide range of novel products and services, from skin care and makeup to hair care. It has also established the Amorepacific Shanghai Beauty Park, integrating production, R&D and logistics to quickly respond to the needs of Chinese consumers.

Mike Hwang, president of Amorepacific China, said that over the past 31 years, the company's steady business development in China is inseparable from the market's stable environment and emerging opportunities.

"We have witnessed China's growth and transformation as an emerging economy. The continuous optimization of China's business environment and the introduction of favorable policies have injected confidence into multinational companies," Hwang said. "We will adhere to our core strategies of consumer-centric product innovation, continuous digital transformation and future-oriented sustainable development, cater to the changing needs of Chinese consumers and provide a diverse range of products and services from skin care and makeup to hair care," he added.

Hwang said that over the past decade, the company has witnessed rapid development of the Chinese economy, resilience of the market, vitality of consumption and the increasing diversity and individual pursuit of beauty by Chinese consumers, all of which create more market opportunities.

"The rise of domestic brands in China indicates there is still a great potential in the Chinese market, and consumption vitality remains strong. This further reinforces our confidence in continuing to invest in the Chinese market and puts higher requirements on continuously improving our innovation, R&D capabilities, brand renewal and product iteration," Hwang said.

The Chinese beauty industry is showing major trends in high-end and mass-market categories, he added. The former emphasizes functionality and technology as the market for functional skin care products is growing rapidly, with more specific kinds, moving from basic to refined. On the other hand, mass-market products have been improved in both quality and cost-effectiveness and many popular products that lead fashion trends have emerged.

Also, Chinese consumers are becoming younger, especially the post-90s and post-00s generations, which have become the main consumer groups. Compared to other regions, young Chinese consumers pay more attention to skin care, including anti-aging. Developed social networks have also made product information more transparent, giving rise to a group of key opinion leaders and skin care enthusiasts who study the efficacy of products.

"We will increase investment in brand renewal and R&D innovation and accelerate digital transformation," the company said in a statement. "For example, Sulwhasoo, a luxury international beauty brand, announced a new brand mission this year: creating artistic forefront and inheriting boundless beauty, allowing domestic consumers to experience art and heritage beauty in every product."

At the same time, Amorepacific is integrating its digital transformation into business decisions, including R&D, production, logistics and marketing, and promoting a multidimensional e-commerce platform layout. In addition to strengthening brand positioning and its image on platforms such as Tmall and JD, the company is using short-video platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou to explore business opportunities. At present, many of its brands have achieved significant results in the field.

Sustainable development

For more than 30 years in China, Amorepacific has been committed to fulfilling its corporate social responsibility by implementing sustainable actions that are suitable for the market, such as carbon neutrality, plastic reduction, sustainable products and consumption.

Amorepacific places high importance on environmental protection and fulfills its environmental responsibility through green production. The concept of the circular economy — reduction, reuse and recycling — is fully integrated into the entire product life cycle, including production, packaging and transportation.

In 2021, the company announced the 2030 A More Beautiful Promise, and hopes to create "A More Beautiful World" where nature, humanity and businesses can coexist harmoniously through sustainable operations.

The 2030 A More Beautiful Promise will take actions in areas such as carbon neutrality, plastic reduction and sustainable consumption to contribute to China's "dual carbon "goals.