L'OREAL, the world's largest cosmetics maker, appointed a new China CEO, Alexis Perakis-Valat, to strengthen its top management and fuel future growth. L'Oreal China was created in 1997 and Paolo Gasparrini has since been the president and managing director of the subsidiary. The separation of the function of president and CEO reflects the strategic importance of China for the group. The decision came as the rapid development in China and the highly specific complexity of such a major market have made the size of the task and the intense growth trajectory too great to be managed by a single person, according to Jean-Paul Agon, CEO of L'Oreal Group. L'Oreal China has reported rapid development for the last 13 years, with a turnover of 8.18 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) in 2009, which was nearly 45 times that of 1997. Currently L'Oreal China owns 19 brands and has become the third largest market of the L'Oreal Group worldwide. Perakis-Valat joined the Group in France in 1994. Before his China posting, he headed the consumer products division in the European region.