L’Oreal sees Middle East and Southeast Asia as next growth engines as China slows: ‘Eventually demographics have to win’

For more than a decade, China’s aspirational shoppers, spurred by a fast-growing economy and rising wages, snapped up products from cosmetics giants like L’Oreal, Estee Lauder, and Shiseido. Before the COVID pandemic hit, China appeared set to overtake the U.S. as the world’s largest makeup market. 

Those boom times are over, as more Chinese consumers now turn to up-and-coming local brands, like Mao Geping and Florasis.

L’Oreal’s sales in Mainland China dropped last year, shrinking...