EssilorLuxottica Launches Five Strategic Collaborations with Ecosystem Partners to Advance China's Vision Care Industry

Build Consensus, Enhance Standards, Reach Widely

ShanghaiNovember 6, 2023PR Newswire -- During the 6th China International Import Expo (CIIE), EssilorLuxottica, a global leader in vision care and eyewear manufacturing, announced the launch of five innovative collaborations. Partnering with the Chinese Academy of Educational Sciences, the China Optical Instruments & Accessories Association, the National Quality Inspection and Testing Center for Glasses, Glass, and Enamel Products, Tencent Health User Platform, and Tianjin Vocational College, among other ecosystem partners, the group aims to establish and promote industry consensus, talent development, advance public welfare services, and science popularization. These efforts seek to enhance consumers' proactive eye health awareness and support the development of China's optometry industry.

Lin Guoliang, President of Professional Vision Care at EssilorLuxottica Greater China, stated: "As a six-year 'close friend' of the CIIE, we have grown together with the event and developed alongside our partners, continuously providing high-quality optical products and eye health services to Chinese consumers. To commemorate this fruitful journey, we held the 'Vision Health Advocacy Ceremony with You' at the CIIE. We were honored to invite leaders from the Danyang and Songjiang municipal governments to join us in reviewing our six-year achievements at the CIIE and reaffirming our shared commitment to improving the vision health of Chinese consumers. Meanwhile, leveraging the CIIE platform, our Vision Health Ecosystem, co-built with partners from government, enterprises, medical institutions, research organizations, and media, has once again been activated. We launched five strategic collaborations, the most in number and scope in the history of our participation, hoping to effectively advance the upgrade of the optometry industry and bring high-quality vision care services to more people."

Launch the Digital Upgrade of "Our Eyes" Pop-up Book to Promote Eye Health Knowledge Popularization

To support myopia prevention and control among children and adolescents, the foundation under EssilorLuxottica Group collaborated with experts from the Ministry of Education’s think tank to compile China’s first 3D pop-up science education book on eye care for children, titled "Our Eyes." After its launch during the 2020 CIIE, the book gained popularity among parents, teachers, and school administrators, becoming a valuable tool for myopia prevention education. To further meet learning needs in the information age, during the 6th CIIE, EssilorLuxottica once again partnered with the Chinese Academy of Educational Sciences to announce the digital upgrade project of "Our Eyes," utilizing digital communication technologies to enhance the accessibility of high-quality eye health science content. In terms of media format, the new version of "Our Eyes" will combine live-action storytelling with music and animation, making it richer and more vivid. Additionally, supplementary teaching materials such as video clips and PowerPoint slides will be developed to fully engage children’s interest in learning. Moreover, the digital version will optimize content according to children’s cognitive patterns, offering two customized versions: one for younger children (under 10 years old) and another for older children and adolescents (aged 10 and above), to improve learning outcomes.

Dr. Fangli Liu, the first author of the 3D book and main project leader from the Chinese Academy of Educational Sciences, stated: "Myopia needs to be ‘controlled’ but more importantly ‘prevented’. It is crucial to promote science education and enhance proactive intervention awareness among children and adolescents. Coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the joint release by the Ministry of Education, the National Health Commission, and six other departments of the ‘Implementation Plan for Comprehensive Myopia Prevention and Control in Children and Adolescents’, we are keeping up with the times. We hope that the more interactive and engaging digital version of *Our Eyes* will better help children develop an awareness of eye care. At the same time, through multimedia content and supplementary teaching materials, we also aim to reach more remote areas, addressing the lack of quality eye health educational resources, and safeguarding a bright future for children and adolescents across China."

EssilorLuxottica Collaborates with the Chinese Academy of Educational Sciences to Launch the Digital Upgrade Project of "Our Eyes"

Establish the Light Chaser Volunteer Alliance to create a cross-industry public welfare "circle of friends"

EssilorLuxottica has long been committed to the field of vision health public welfare. Since its foundation was established in Shanghai in 2016, it has provided knowledge education and free vision screening services to more than 3 million people in China, and donated 550,000 pairs of glasses. To further expand its public welfare "circle of friends" and influence, during the CIIE, the foundation announced the establishment of the Light Chaser Volunteer Alliance in collaboration with the China Glasses Association. This aims to gather cross-industry forces to build an integrated, innovative volunteer alliance that offers sustainable, public welfare-oriented, and implementable solutions to address the growing issue of vision health problems. After its establishment, the Light Chaser Volunteer Alliance will carry out activities in stages: recruiting volunteers through roadshows among member units of the China Glasses Association, partners, and the general public; providing volunteers with public welfare screening and optometry training certification courses; and after training and certification, members of the volunteer alliance will go deep into communities and villages to conduct public lectures and related services.

EssilorLuxottica Foundation Joins Hands with China Optical Association to Announce the Official Establishment of the Light Chaser Volunteer Alliance

Jiang Bo, Vice President of the China Glasses Association, stated: "Poor vision is an unprecedented health challenge we face, with one in every three people worldwide suffering from it. Only by uniting all forces, consolidating the industry's compassion, and amplifying professional expertise can we find scientifically effective solutions. We are delighted to establish the Light Chaser Alliance with the foundation under EssilorLuxottica Group, a benchmark public welfare organization in the field of vision health, taking it as our mission to protect the visual health of every Chinese individual. Using volunteer service as a bridge, we will jointly promote optical inclusiveness; making public welfare not just an expression of love or a social responsibility, but also a way of life!"

Support the Development of Group Standards for Microstructure Lenses, Promoting the Standardized Growth of Innovative Technologies

In recent years, with the development of technology and the increasing refinement of consumer demands for myopia prevention and control, new myopia management products and technologies have continued to emerge. Among them, lenses based on microstructure design, as a new type of myopia prevention and control product, have gained particular favor among children, teenagers, and their parents. Their clinical effectiveness has also been recognized by numerous experts and scholars in the optometry industry. Since the presentation and testing methods of lenses with different microstructure designs vary significantly, establishing a unified standard for the inspection and testing of microstructure lenses and regulating the emerging microstructure eyewear market has become an urgent necessity. Against this backdrop, the National Quality Inspection and Testing Center for Glasses, Glass, and Enamel Products has joined hands with industry-leading companies like EssilorLuxottica to begin formulating a series of group standards for microstructure lenses. These standards aim to regulate the myopia prevention and control market and its products, with a signing ceremony held during the sixth China International Import Expo (CIIE).

National Quality Inspection and Testing Center for Glass, Enamel and Ophthalmic Products Collaborates with EssilorLuxottica to Develop Group Standards for Micro-Structured Eyewear Series

Ye Jiayi, Standing Vice Director of the National Quality Inspection and Testing Center for Glass, Enamel, and Eyewear Products, stated: "Over the years, the center has led the development of multiple national and industry standards as well as group standards, striving to meet the evolving needs of new products and technologies in the optometry field while continuously improving the standardization of related products. Currently, we have observed a sharp increase in the market share of micro-structure designed lenses, with varying product quality, which has drawn significant attention from government regulatory authorities. Collaborating with EssilorLuxottica to advance the formulation and implementation of group standards for this category marks an expansion of our long-term partnership into a new area. This effort will help regulate the micro-structure lens market and ensure higher product quality to protect the visual health of children and adolescents in China."

In addition to microstructural lenses, multifocal soft contact lenses (multifocal soft lenses) have also become a new category of myopia control products that have garnered significant market attention. To standardize the clinical application of this innovative technology in myopia management, during the CIIE, EssilorLuxottica, in collaboration with Tencent Health User Platform, launched the "Expert Consensus on Fitting Multifocal Soft Lenses for Myopia Control" online. This consensus was drafted by the Ophthalmic Optometry Group of the Chinese Ophthalmological Society of the Chinese Medical Association, aiming to enhance the standardization of fitting and follow-up procedures, ensuring the effectiveness and safety of multifocal soft lens fitting. In terms of industry talent cultivation, the group will also sign strategic cooperation agreements with optometry institutions represented by Tianjin Vocational College and continuing education schools represented by Wanxin Academy, introducing advanced course content and teaching methods into these institutions, strengthening resource sharing between schools and enterprises, and nurturing the next generation of young optometry professionals.。