Cosmetics: L'Oreal to research structure and behavior of Asian skin and hair

L'Oreal is to open a new R&D center in China to carry out research into the structure and behaviour of Asian skin and hair, which it plans to use to develop products to meet the specific needs of the Asian customer.

CEO Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones, said: "The opening of this research center represents an important turning point for our company and for Asian consumers around the world."

It's not suprising that L'Oreal should want to enter the Chinese market - in a report published earlier this month, the Chinese cosmetics market was valued at $7.9 billion.