Left: Sangbae Shim, right: Gyeong Choi
On March 28th, Cosmax Group held a board meeting and passed a resolution on personnel changes, appointing former Cosmax Group representative director Sangbae Shim (Vice Chairman of the Group) as CEO of Cosmax China, and appointing former CEO of Cosmax China, Gyeong Choi, as representative director of Cosmax Group in Korea (Vice Chairman of the Group).
Chairman Kyungsoo Lee of Cosmax Group swapped the general managers of Cosmax Group in Korea and Cosmax China to transplant the successful experiences of the two vice presidents to the Korean and Chinese markets respectively, aiming to achieve double-digit growth this year.
Sangbae Shim joined Amorepacific Group in 1980 and has held positions in various departments such as production, logistics, and research and development. He served as representative director of Amorepacific Group for 11 years.
Sangbae Shim joined Cosmax Group in 2020 and took over Cosmax Group in 2021. He led Cosmax Korea to grow against the trend during the COVID-19 pandemic and was promoted from president to vice president. In the past year, he responded positively to the growth trends of emerging global brands and led the Korean subsidiary to surpass its trillion-won sales target.
Sangbae Shim plans to combine his many years of management experience with the operational reality of the Chinese subsidiary to establish a customer-centric management system and graft the experience of driving the revival of K-Beauty into the OBM business, leading Cosmax China to new heights.
On the other hand, as the pioneer of Korea’s ODM industry entering China, Gyeong Choi has been leading Cosmax China since 2004. Over the past twenty years, under Gyeong Choi’s leadership, Cosmax China has gradually become a dominant force in China’s cosmetics ODM industry.
Cosmax stated that Gyeong Choi’s return to headquarters will also see him standing at the strategic height of the group, leading Cosmax to create a multi-faceted gap and strengthen the group’s world-leading advantages. It is also believed that with his deep understanding of the Chinese market and the operational situation of Cosmax, he will better help Cosmax China communicate with the headquarters and achieve new growth.
In 2023, Cosmax’s sales revenue was 1,775 billion Korean won, an increase of 11% year-on-year; its operating profit was 115.7 billion Korean won, a turnaround from a loss of 16.45 billion Korean won in 2022. Sales in China amounted to 547.5 billion Korean won, accounting for 31%, but showed a slight decline compared to 2022.
