Interview: Germany's Merck Group has high hopes for Chinese market

DARMSTADT, Germany, March 2 (Xinhua) -- China is one of the fastest-growing markets for Merck Group, CEO of Germany's leading science and technology company said on Thursday.

Belen Garijo said in an interview with Xinhua that China is one of the company's most important markets.

Although the lockdown measures imposed in China last year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic were a challenge for the company, business is now recovering in the country, Garijo said.

"We are expecting acceleration of our operational dynamics in China," she added.

On Thursday, Merck unveiled its annual report for 2022, showing it had achieved solid growth both in sales and EBITDA.

Net sales climbed by 12.9 percent to 22.2 billion euros (23.5 billion U.S. dollars), while EBITDA went up by 12.2 percent to 6.8 billion euros in 2022.

Founded in 1668, Merck is headquartered in the German city of Darmstadt. The company made inroads into the Chinese market around 90 years ago.

Merck has now established a strong presence in China in its three core sectors: life science, healthcare and electronics. It also has an innovation center in China.

"International investment will be very important for us to continue to grow in the country in the coming years," Garijo said. (1 euro = 1.06 U.S. dollar)