LEGO Group vows to step up investments in China

People enter a LEGO store in Shanghai, east China, Oct. 5, 2020. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

The world's leading toy brand LEGO Group announced recently that it will open another LEGO brand flagship store the municipality of Chongqing in southwest China, marking another move by LEGO to expand its market in China following the launching of its flagship store in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, reported People's Daily Friday.

Speaking on the matter, Paul Huang, senior vice president of the LEGO Group and general manager of LEGO China said, "While witnessing China's economic development, our business in China has also made great progress."

From the LEGO brand's entry into the Chinese market in 1983 to the start of production at the LEGO factory in Jiaxing, eastern China's Zhejiang province in 2016, the group has been expanding its business in China and even Asia.

Meanwhile, the Danmark-based LEGO Group announced earlier this year that it will increase investment in the Jiaxing factory to continue to fuel business growth in China and Asia.

Huang said that China's higher level of opening-up has provided a favorable business environment for foreign-funded enterprises to develop in China. At the same time, the accelerated release of domestic consumer demand in China has brought more business opportunities for the LEGO Group.

"China's innovation-driven high-quality development is interactive and mutually facilitating with LEGO's strategy of accelerating digital transformation", said Huang, who added that the company's digital talent hub in Shanghai with nearly 60 employees is expected to digitally-enable the brand to create better experience for shoppers.

The Annual Report 2021 released by the group March this year shows that LEGO group has achieved strong growth boosted by expanding business in Chinese market in 2021. 

Huang said that during the year, the company opened 165 new LEGO branded brick and mortar stores, with more than 90 in China, making the total LEGO authorized retail stores in China exceeds 300 across over 85 cities and regions in China.

According to Huang, the LEGO Group will always be optimistic about the long-term development potential in the Chinese market, and the company will give the priority of expansion efforts in retail to penetrating in lower tier markets in China, to strengthen its branding exposure and get more access to consumers in the country.