By Mary Chao
Democrat and Chronicle

(June 25, 2000) -- Rochester's eye care giant was farsighted in spotting potential in a huge and nearsighted nation: More than half of China's 1.2 billion people are myopic, compared with 25 percent of westerners.

In 1987, Bausch & Lomb Inc. became one of the first U.S. companies to establish a presence in China.

Being first has paid off. Of the 6 million contact lens wearers in China, about half wear B&L contact lenses. In fact, B&L is well ahead of U.S. competitors such as Johnson & Johnson and Ciba Vision and Chinese contact lens maker Weicon.

''China represents the largest growth opportunity in Asia,'' said John Loughlin, B&L corporate vice president and president of the Asia region, which represents 20 percent of the company's $1.8 billion in annual revenue.

Sales of B&L contact lenses and solutions in China have grown 12 to 15 percent each year. That has made China the second largest market for B&L products in Asia, after Japan.

With a plant in Beijing, five regional offices and 24 sales representatives in different cities, B&L employs about 500 people in China -- that compares with 2,000 workers in Rochester. Contact lenses are exported to China from B&L plants in the United States and Europe and refinished in Beijing.

Snaring the largest share of contact lens wearers in China was no easy task. B&L declined to disclose how much it has invested in China, but said it has tried to win consumers through education. It offers free eye examinations in various cities and trains eye doctors to fit contact lenses.

And B&L recently began employing ''vision care associates,'' young women with nursing backgrounds who answer eye care questions at optical shops.

B&L's presence is clearly felt in China, said Shi Han, principal of ChinaLine LLC, a consulting company with offices in Rochester, Chicago and Beijing that helps U.S. businesses in China.

''People say, 'I wear Bausch & Lombs' instead of saying, 'I wear contact lenses.' ''

B&L's gestures of good will to the Chinese people propelled its growth, Han said, referring to the free eye exams. ''It's a company that not only does good marketing, but does social work. Good deeds do not go unnoticed.''

According to Han, B&L is one of the most profitable multinational operations in China.

Jing Li, manager of treasury operations at B&L in Rochester -- and Han's wife -- recalls when B&L made its splashy entrance in the Chinese market. She was a student at Beijing University in 1987, when contact lenses became a hot new trend there.

''I remember very vividly there were Bausch & Lomb posters everywhere,'' she said. ''Everyone, especially young people, wanted to take off their glasses and try contact lenses.''

Although contacts have become a popular alternative to glasses in China, affordability is an issue for consumers there. B&L's most popular lines of contact lenses -- such as Brilliance or Optima, which can be worn daily for one year -- retail for $20 to $40 in China. Lens cleaning solutions, such as B&L's ReNu, cost only slightly less in China than the U.S. retail price of about $5 a bottle.

But in China, where per capita income is about $3,500 a year, those prices could keep many Chinese consumers out of the market. ''To the masses, it's still a luxury,'' Loughlin said of contact lenses.

Realizing the disparity in disposable incomes between China and the West, B&L sells the Chinese an older, less expensive line of products.

That includes annual-replacement lenses, which cost less than the disposable lenses that are more popular in North America and Europe. But as the Chinese economy grows, the demand for newer products will follow, Loughlin said.

''Chinese consumers are increasingly more sophisticated and they're knowledgeable about technical products like contact lenses.''

Loughlin sees opportunities for B&L's other two divisions: surgical and pharmaceuticals. Already, B&L has introduced cataract surgery in China and plans to introduce its Technolas 217 laser for vision correction. The pharmaceuticals business -- which makes such items as vitamins and eye drugs -- is in the embryonic stage in China, with a few representatives selling its products, Loughlin said.

Down the road, B&L should establish successful businesses for all three of its divisions in China, Loughlin said.

''We're on a roll and we have not peaked.''