L'Oreal's largest Asia-Pacific factory opens in China

Paris-based cosmetics giant L'Oreal has expanded a factory in central China's Hubei province into its largest production base in the Asia-Pacific region.

Covering an area of more than 70,000 square meters, the production base, located in the city of Yichang, has been put into operation after two years of construction, the company announced on Monday.

The production base, with a total investment of 200 million yuan (32.8 million US dollars), will be able to produce 250 million units of cosmetics annually.

By building its largest Asia-Pacific production base in China and moving its Asia-Pacific headquarters to Shanghai in July, the company has shown its confidence in the market in the region, said Alexis Perakis-Valat, chief executive of L'Oreal China.

L'Oreal has 42 factories worldwide, including two in China. The other Chinese factory is in Suzhou, a city in east China's Jiangsu province.