Haleon plc, a global leader in the consumer health sector, is optimistic about China's economy and will further deepen its operations in the country, even at a time of economic and geopolitical complexity around the world, a senior executive said.

"China has always been an incredibly important market in Haleon's global landscape," said Susan Gu, general manager for the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong at Haleon. "I'm pleased to see a series of exciting initiatives by Haleon global in 2023, such as our global CEO's visit to China soon after the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, and the opening of Haleon's first innovation center in China, which have reaffirmed the expectations and commitments to the China market by our global headquarters."

Gu said: "We believe that the Chinese economy will continue to grow in a sustainable manner. We are particularly confident in the prospects of the health industry, which is driven by people's increasing focus on health, the growing middle-income population and the aging trend which leads to a rise in demand for health products and services related to the elderly."

A report released recently by Beijing-based market consultancy Shangpu Group showed that China's healthcare sector is expected to reach 11.2 trillion yuan ($1.56 trillion) by 2023, of which health-preserving medicines took up the largest share, or 51.8 percent.

"With policy support and people's demand constantly increasing, the consumer health sector has been rapidly growing," according to the report.

Gu said there are huge opportunities within the Chinese consumer health sector.

"Fueled by the growing middle-income population, and the increasing awareness and knowledge of healthcare, people's demands for diversified or personalized health solutions are mounting."

Early last year, Haleon introduced a nutrition customization platform, Key, to cater to the diversified and personalized supplement needs.

Key is the first personalized nutrition platform launched by Haleon China, and can provide personalized nutrition reports, services and product portfolios based on its understanding of users' individual health conditions through online questionnaires, physical reports, wearable devices and gene testing by cooperating with third parties.

In October, Haleon launched its first innovation center in China in Shanghai, aiming to build a localized innovative platform, cultivate an innovative culture and promote innovation in China.

The innovation center will mainly focus on consumer and market research, product innovation, digital innovation, and marketing and consumer experience innovation.

According to the company, the opening of the innovation center in China will help the company better serve Chinese consumers, achieve its vision in China and become a growth engine for its global business.

In the future, it will ramp up efforts to support the operation of the innovation center in China, and constantly invest in the construction of R&D and innovative capability in the Chinese market.

In January, Haleon launched Centrum Daily Wellness Packs in China, offering a more tailored solution for the local market. It plans to bring more tailored products to the market in the coming years.

"There exist enormous new market opportunities for health solution providers to cater to the health needs of the growing middle-income group, as well as the elderly population," Gu said.

In the realm of sustainability, Haleon supports China's dual carbon goals. So far, it has obtained operational carbon neutrality certification for all its manufacturing sites in the country.

"Looking ahead, Haleon China will continue to leverage our strengths of trusted science, deep human understanding and digital capability to keep driving innovation and embracing the Chinese market based on Chinese consumers' needs, so as to better empower Chinese consumers' everyday health and contribute to the achievement of Healthy China 2030," Gu added.

Xie Zongbo, an independent financial columnist and a member of the Caixin Global Young Leaders Forum, said: "The COVID-19 pandemic made people pay increasing attention to health maintenance, and along with the deepening of an aging society, the consumer health sector is booming and is expected to grow in the long term.

"To realize sustainable development, consumer health companies should improve their products and services, enhance R&D, and bring more diversified and personalized solutions to the local market."