Designer Mao Geping (center) greeting the audience next to Chinese actress Liu Xiaoqing (left) during China Fashion Week in Beijing on March 26, 2018. STR/AFP In Chinese opera, the makeup is an art in its own right. It alone should make it possible to instantly recognize the characters. Assembling colors and creating shapes on faces is the passion of Mao Geping, a former actor at the Zhejiang Yue Opera in the 1980s, who became a makeup artist. He opened his first school in 2000. This Tuesday, December 10, at the age of 60, he became a billionaire. His beauty products company was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, valuing its stake beyond a billion euros. The reception was enthusiastic, with a jump of more than 80% in the price. All this while its products are expensive, in a fairly depressed context where the big players in the sector, like L’Oréal, are struggling to attract the Chinese. Mao Geping saw his sales increase by 40% in the first half of 2024 alone. This story appears like a ray of sunshine in a stormy sky. China is fighting against the specter of deflation, a consequence of poor consumer appetite. Over the first ten months of the year, consumer prices increased by only 0.3%. Such a low level means lower profits, investments and wages. Future American customs taxes The only engine still valid is that of exports. In November, they increased again by 6.7%, after a 12.7% increase in October. But this windfall is threatened by the anger of Americans and Europeans, who see a surge in products at knockdown prices that Chinese consumers no longer want. This dangerous situation alarms the authorities, who note the lack of effectiveness of the timid recovery plans announced. On Monday, the party’s governing body, the Politburo, announced that it could inaugurate a massive fiscal and monetary aid policy in 2025. A declaration with the scent of fiscal stimulus and a drop in rates to a level not seen in fourteen years and the crisis of the 2010s. This is, in any case, how the markets received the news. All Asian stock markets soared together on Tuesday. Stimulating the domestic economy is essential for the country, in view of a drop in exports with future American customs taxes promised by future President Donald Trump. In this area, the vicious circle is set in motion. Beijing responded to restrictions on the export of chips from Californian Nvidia to China by launching an investigation into the company. Now is not the time for relaxation. Mao Geping’s exploits will not be enough to raise Chinese morale. The latter owes his notoriety to his talents as a makeup artist for the forty-year-old star Liu Xiaoqing, in a television series from the 1990s. He transformed her, over the episodes, from a teenager to an octogenarian. Makeup is an art of illusion. He can’t do everything.
—-
Author : News7
Publish date : 2024-12-10 13:49:51
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.