Exclusive Interview with Sun Laichun: Linqingxuan, with an Annual Revenue of 2.5 Billion, Doesn't Want to Be the Chinese L'Oréal | Exclusive Interview by Houxue

Author | Li Xiaoxia

Interview | Li Xiaoxia, Yang Xuan

Editor | Qiao Qian

Sun Laichun, the founder of Linqingxuan, has a well - known and thrilling story.

It was at the beginning of the Spring Festival in 2020 when the pandemic started. Linqingxuan closed a large number of stores, and its performance declined by 90% in a cliff - like manner. The cash in the company's account could only support it for a maximum of 67 days.

At that moment, Sun Laichun suddenly found that the offline gene he had been proud of for more than a decade had become the most vulnerable burden.

Many people also know the subsequent story. Sun Laichun walked into the live - streaming room. From a middle - aged man who was afraid of the camera and would be so nervous as to vomit, he became an internet - celebrity CEO who could talk about skin care and the brand with strange users on the other side of the screen.

Along with these changes, so did Linqingxuan's fate. The company went public at the end of last year and became the "first stock of high - end domestic skin - care products" on the Hong Kong stock market.

These glorious achievements were unimaginable before: being driven around when trying to enter shopping malls and constantly hitting walls in financing. Now, all of these are in the past.

Recently, Linqingxuan released its first financial report since going public:

In 2025, Linqingxuan's revenue was 2.45 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 103%; the net profit was 360 million yuan, a year - on - year increase of 93%. The gross profit margin remained at 82%, and the cumulative sales volume of its core flagship product, Camellia Essential Oil, exceeded 55 million bottles.

For the first time, the proportion of online revenue exceeded that of offline revenue, rising to 70.4%. The founder's IP and the brand IP matrix have become unique labels that distinguish it from traditional beauty brands.

Doubts have also come in droves. Such as "single product line" and "domestic brands can't afford to do high - end"... Sun Laichun himself said, "On the way to make the brand high - end, mockery, doubts, and misunderstandings have never stopped. We can only accept them calmly."

In his plan, making Camellia Essential Oil is just the first step for Linqingxuan. What he wants is to refer to L'Oréal and develop multiple brands and go international.

This doesn't mean that Linqingxuan wants to "become the Chinese L'Oréal" - a slogan that countless Chinese beauty brands have shouted.

"We just want to be Linqingxuan."

Recently, 36Kr conducted an interview with the founder of Linqingxuan. The following is the edited conversation:

"There is still a gap from being a truly high - end brand."

36Kr: Linqingxuan started from affordable handmade soaps. What kind of transformation did it go through from being a mass - market brand to a high - end one? There aren't many domestic brands that can make high - end beauty products. Why is it Linqingxuan?

Sun Laichun: Linqingxuan did start from a low point, but we can't be considered unable to make high - end skin - care products because of that. No one has the right to define a brand as "it should stay where it was born."

Back then, although we were making handmade soaps, we chose a differentiated path, which was to open stores in offline department stores and shopping malls. This truly determined Linqingxuan's future strategic choices.

Another point is that we mainly operate direct - owned stores. Later, we also carried out R & D and a full - industry - chain layout, all of which are heavy - asset investments. Gradually, we had the possibility of creating a high - end brand.

From 2012 to now, it has taken us 14 years to prepare, operate, and break through. We've survived many near - death situations and still have a gap from being a truly high - end brand.

36Kr: Where does this gap lie?

Sun Laichun: For example, we haven't successfully created high - end essences and creams. Secondly, building brand influence and consumer recognition takes time. From another perspective, this is exactly our future growth space.

36Kr: When the brand was just starting out and had little influence, how did you persuade shopping malls to introduce and accept you? Was this process particularly difficult?

Sun Laichun: It wasn't just difficult; it was extremely difficult. In March 2008, all of Linqingxuan's products were ready, and some had even been produced and stored. From March to December, for a full nine months, I visited more than 200 shopping malls, department stores, and shopping centers, and 90% of them directly rejected us.

Looking back now, I'm really grateful to Longemont in Zhongshan Park, Shanghai. At that time, the mall had just opened and was more willing to accept new domestic brands like ours.

More than a decade later, I ran into the then - general manager of CapitaLand and expressed my gratitude in person. He said that the mall reserves spots every year to introduce 3 - 5 local brands with innovation potential for support. Many brands have been introduced in the past, but Linqingxuan is one of the few brands that started from a single store, expanded across the country, and has the opportunity to go global in the future.

When we opened a store in a well - known department store, we already had a scale of forty or fifty stores. At first, the mall gave us a good location. After operating for half a year, the mall introduced a well - known Japanese brand and moved us to an unpopular area for domestic brands on the grounds that "domestic brands are not worthy of being in the same area as international brands." After another half - year, when a Korean brand was introduced, we were pushed to the basement floor.

After operating for a year, we renovated the store twice and didn't make any money. Six months later, they said the basement was being renovated and they no longer needed cosmetics, so they kicked us out.

However, later a new CEO took over. He had a high regard for Chinese culture and believed that Chinese brands were on the rise, so he invited us back. At that time, I also told him that we didn't have any concerns. We could accept moving to a new location or even leaving the mall if needed.

Along the way, Linqingxuan has been squeezed out and moved around countless times. We've endured bit by bit until now, with nearly 600 stores. So I say it takes time. We need to endure loneliness and accept continuous setbacks to have a future.

A single product line is just a temporary state

36Kr: The public's awareness of skin - care with oils is not very high. How did you break through in market education?

Sun Laichun: To be honest, it was more difficult for Linqingxuan to develop skin - care with oils and create a new category of essential oils than to transform the brand into a high - end one and lay out offline stores.

First, there was a blank in user awareness: The public is used to using lotions, creams, and ordinary essences and has no awareness of using oils for skin - care. Moreover, in the public's fixed perception, oil equals greasiness. People are actually buying oil - controlling products, so there is a natural negative perception.

Second, the awareness of camellia raw materials is weak: People only know that camellias are beautiful but are not clear about their skin - care effects. A lot of effort is needed for market education.

The only advantage is that skin - care with camellia oil has the endorsement of thousands of years of ancient books, court use, and historical records. It has been used for skin moisturizing and anti - wrinkle since ancient times. Apart from this, everything else depends on our own investment in scientific research to make the products light and easy to absorb, and then continuously carry out market promotion.

36Kr: Can relying on camellias and skin - care with oils support Linqingxuan's long - term development? There has always been a voice in the outside world questioning that the brand's single product line is too monotonous.

Sun Laichun: It's like Coca - Cola in the early days, which created a new category. People who questioned it thought its product line was too single, with only one type of cola and no diversified categories such as mineral water, alcoholic beverages, and snacks. Today, Coca - Cola has also expanded into multiple product lines such as Sprite and natural water.

Do you think SK - II only sells Facial Treatment Essence or Estée Lauder only sells essences? We first focus on becoming a category leader and then gradually extend to create a high - end skin - care line with "1 + 4+N" multiple flagships.

The outside world thinks that Linqingxuan is currently supported by a single product, which is true, but it's just a temporary state. Our second growth curve has emerged, and the layout of new brands is also on the way.

36Kr: What is the layout of new brands?

Sun Laichun: We have a three - stage layout. The first stage is to make the single brand high - end, which is currently in progress and showing initial results. The second stage is to build a multi - brand matrix. We will target different groups of people, even different regions and skin types, to form a differentiated multi - brand. The third stage is globalization.

36Kr: What kind of multi - brands will you choose, or what categories of multi - brands will you develop?

Sun Laichun: Currently, Linqingxuan is positioned in the mid - to - high - end market, and there are still many gaps in the layout that need to be filled: There is a lack of a top - luxury line, as well as perfume, makeup, men's skin - care, and mass - market affordable brands. Referring to L'Oréal, if Linqingxuan is compared to Lancôme, we still lack brands like Helena Rubinstein, L'Oréal Paris, and Maybelline.

Even within the mid - to - high - end market, we mainly focus on skin - care with essential oils and lack brands with segmented positioning such as those focusing on creams, lotions, and efficacy - based essences.

Learn from L'Oréal's multi - brand layout

36Kr: Do you want to become the Chinese L'Oréal?

Sun Laichun: We don't want to become the Chinese L'Oréal. We are learning from L'Oréal Group's multi - brand layout. We just want to be Linqingxuan.

36Kr: However, many companies have wanted to become like L'Oréal over the years, but none have succeeded so far.

Sun Laichun: I believe that an international group like L'Oréal or Estée Lauder will surely emerge among Chinese enterprises. It's not certain which one it will be, but everyone is working hard and achieving results.

36Kr: You must have heard a lot of negative voices saying that Chinese brands going high - end are just taking advantage of consumers. How will you dispel this inherent prejudice among the public?

Sun Laichun: When I was a child, I lived in a coal - mining area. The environment and atmosphere were not good at that time. Many children spat on the ground, smashed windows, and threw stones to cause trouble. When everyone was doing bad things together, if you insisted on not following the crowd and not participating, you would not only not be recognized but also be laughed at, squeezed out, and even bullied by your peers. It's like a basket of crabs. If one wants to climb out, the others will pull it down.

It's the same with building a brand. We can't conclude that domestic brands are not suitable for going high - end just because there are currently few domestic high - end brands. This is a wrong inductive thinking. We should use long - term deductive thinking to see the trend. Twenty years ago, I was determined that China would surely produce high - end skin - care brands comparable to international ones, and I started Linqingxuan with this dream.

36Kr: So these voices won't become an obstacle for you.

Sun Laichun: My grandma is a Shandong woman. She often says, "If you're scared off by the noise of crickets, you'll never plant crops." It means that we shouldn't lose motivation because of outside voices.

36Kr: In the 2024 high - end skin - care ranking, Linqingxuan is the only domestic brand among the top 15. Past achievements have proven that we now have the strength to compete with international brands. Next, how will you continue to compete with them?

Sun Laichun: In the past three years, the overall market share of domestic beauty products has increased from less than 50% to 57% this year, and the share is still expanding. One reason is that the technological strength of Chinese brands has improved. Second, consumers' cultural confidence has increased. So how to compete? We still need to do solid scientific research, build the brand earnestly, do well in retail and service, and iterate step by step.

High gross profit margin is not the core point of making a profit on Douyin

36Kr: Currently, among domestic high - end beauty brands, only Mao Geping and Linqingxuan have reached the listing stage. Why is it these two brands in particular?

Sun Laichun: We have taken completely different paths, but we have common genes. For example, we are willing to open offline stores, do a good job in retail and customer experience, and are brave enough to create new categories and invest in mid - to - high - end brands.

36Kr: Why did you decide to do e - commerce live - streaming yourself?

Sun Laichun: In the face of great difficulties, as a leader, do you say "Guys, follow me" or "Guys, follow me (literally, come with me)"? I chose the latter. At that time, everyone was in home quarantine, and no one was willing to take the initiative to do live - streaming.

Not only did I participate myself, but I also called on all the management in the company to try live - streaming and explore this new thing. Only by personally experiencing it can you get a feel for it, know how difficult it is, and understand the bitterness of the task.

I think any boss who has no feel for the business and gives random instructions definitely won't work. At the critical moment of the company's transformation, as a leading cadre, you must charge forward. When the business has taken shape, leading cadres should step back from the front line to build the organization and team, and train and replicate more excellent leaders, rather than staying on the front line all the time.

36Kr: Are there any entrepreneurs or enterprises you admire?

Sun Laichun: At present, Huawei has been the most helpful to us. It is very powerful from strategy to execution. Additionally, I've recently been very fascinated by Danaher's system. In the future, when Linqingxuan lays out its multi - brand, internationalization, and merger and acquisition strategies, we also plan to adopt Danaher's system.

36Kr: Linqingxuan has a high gross profit margin. Is this also the key to your continuous success on Douyin, considering that the cost on Douyin is relatively high?

Sun Laichun: The average repurchase rate of our products reaches 34.2%, while some brands' skin - care products only have a 4.5% repurchase rate. Even if they try hard to attract new customers every day, users won't come back after the first visit, and they can't make money at all.

So it's not the high gross profit margin but the high repurchase rate that determines Linqingxuan's profitability on Douyin. Another factor is the brand power accumulated from more than twenty years of offline stores, which brings high conversion rates.

36Kr: At the moment of life and death, you made two important decisions: entering the e - commerce field and opening up to financing. Was the process of finding investors difficult?

Sun Laichun: Before 2020, Linqingxuan always adhered to the principle of "being on guard against investors," and we didn't want to raise funds at all. At that time, the company's business was doing well. Many investors came to us and repeatedly persuaded us to accept investment, but I refused them all.

Then, in 2020, the pandemic suddenly hit. We suddenly found that our cash flow could only support us for