Looking at home in a bright new way

Having joined the group in 2009, Wee has witnessed rapid growth in recent years and will not be surprised to see a decent performance in China by the end of this year.

The China market contributed more than 60 percent of Nipsea's total sales in Asia last year. The figure is expected to remain the same this year. Nippon Paint China is enjoying the fastest growth rate in revenue among the company's other markets in Asia.

"With the deepening progress of urbanization in the country, the construction sector will act as a major growth engine for the paints and coatings industry," said Wu Yanhuan, of Beijing S&P Information Consult Co Ltd, a consultancy committed to providing solutions to enterprise strategic developments.

The Chinese are becoming more and more aware of the need for a "green" lifestyle, a fact that can be indicated by the figures demonstrating the growth rate of environmentally friendly paint products, Wu said.

In July, paint production rose nationally 3.4 percent year-on-year, while "green" products showcased an average increase of close to 10 percent from a year earlier, she said.

Some action has been taken toward this goal. Nipsea is now working with Chinese real estate developers closely to start renewing the living environment, some of them more than 10 years old.

"We not only give the property owners a whole new environment they are happy with, but also increase the overall value of these properties and the surroundings," said Wee.

Last year, the coating market experienced a slowdown because of the government's policies to regulate an overheating property market.

Despite the decline in decoration orders from new building supervisors resulting from the government's price-control measures on the real estate market, there is still considerable market potential for renovation or redecoration among residential buildings completed at the end of the last century or at the beginning of this century, Guo Xihong, an industry analyst, told Cinic.org.cn.