French beauty giant L'Oreal was among the first batch of companies to confirm their attendance for last year's China International Import Expo, and company executives say they've benefited highly ever since. Ahead of the second CIIE next week, Fabrice Megarbane, president and CEO of L'Oréal China, shared his expectations for the expo and his views on the Chinese beauty market.

"The second year of CIIE will have more, more of everything. We will first have more space; we will have more presence," he said. 

L'Oréal will have a big booth, another presence in the selective luxury part, as well as a presence in the French Pavilion because this year the French president will also at the opening, and L'Oréal is a part of this presence.

"We will have more brands and more innovation. For L'Oréal, we believe that the future will be for beauty tech because technology will make beauty more personalized. And this is what we see very much this year, and you will see a lot of beauty tech within our presence,”Megarbane said.

He said personalization is the new area of development in China. Megarbane explained that while in the past, people would say there are 1,000 women in one look, nowadays, there are 1,000 looks for every woman. 

"Every day, somebody wants to feel different, and everybody needs to feel unique. This is where beauty brands and beauty services can answer to that," he said. 

Acknowledging that there has been a slowdown in the economy, Megarbane, however, said that the beauty industry has been largely immune to such forces.

"We don't see a slowdown in the beauty market. I think, fundamentally, today, Chinese consumers are looking to better quality. They are looking to better experiences, to better services," he said. "Beauty is beyond product; beauty is about self-expression. It is about also daring to look at a brighter future. And I think today the youngsters are having a lot of willingness to go for a better life."

Noting that the group is excited to be operating in China, Megarbane said it benefits a lot from the Chinese market, adding that there is an ecosystem in China that nowhere else has.

"The digital transformation is immense. It is very fast, which also brings this driving force to the entire group to adapt to this market and keep winning in this market,”he said.