Guangzhou beauty industry relies on independent innovation to continue to exert its strength.
Guangzhou has such a manufacturing industry, its industrial output value exceeds 100 billion yuan, its industrial scale accounts for 55% of the whole country, the number of products registered and filed accounts for 80% of the whole province, and the number of patent applications also ranks first in China. This industry scale and patented technology are "far ahead", which is the beauty industry in Guangzhou.
"China beauty looks at Guangdong, and Guangdong beauty looks at Guangzhou." When it comes to China’s cosmetics industry, Guangzhou is an indispensable leader. At a new starting point, how can Guangzhou continue to "make beautiful and beautiful manufacturing"? How to stay ahead and achieve a leap? The reporter’s investigation found that Guangzhou is exploring the sustainable development of the cosmetics industry track-behind the creation of an "international beauty bay", it is the industry "innovation" that dares to be the first.
Yixian biotechnology production line
"Big Mac" is transforming into "high quality"
China’s "beautiful economy" rose rapidly. At present, China has become the second largest cosmetics consumption market in the world. According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first half of 2023, the retail sales of cosmetics in China was 207.1 billion yuan, up 8.6% year-on-year. According to the consulting data of Ai Media, the scale of China cosmetics market will maintain steady growth, and it is expected to exceed 510 billion yuan in 2023.
The aesthetic system originated from the East is going global, and one of the leaders is many local beauty companies in Guangzhou. According to the "White Paper on Cosmetics Industry in Guangzhou in 2023", Guangzhou leads the industry with a considerable number of enterprises and perfect industrial chain configuration, and the "strength" of industrial clusters is obvious to all-the output value of Guangzhou cosmetics industry has exceeded 100 billion yuan, and the industrial scale accounts for about 55% of the country, ranking first in the country; There are 1877 licensed cosmetics manufacturers in Guangzhou, accounting for 34% of the national total and 60% of the province; The number of registered cosmetics accounts for 80% of the province, and the number of cosmetic patent applications is also far ahead in China.
"Guangzhou is a veritable China beauty super factory." Du Hong, executive president and secretary general of Guangdong Cosmetics Quality Management Association, said that Guangzhou ranks first in the statistics of filing information of the State Food and Drug Administration, and ranks first in the number of production enterprises in Guangzhou, with the most complete industrial chain and supporting policies from the city to all districts, which can fully reflect the strength of Guangzhou’s beauty industry.
At present, Guangzhou beauty industry cluster is transforming from "large quantity" to "high quality". The "Implementation Opinions of the General Office of Guangzhou Municipal People’s Government on Promoting the High-quality Development of Cosmetics Industry" clearly states that at present, Guangzhou has built a "4+6+4" (4 bases, 6 business districts and 4 keys) high-quality development pattern of the entire cosmetics industry chain in combination with the development trend of the industry and in accordance with the overall layout of the high-quality development policy, thus forming a situation in which all districts are dislocated and all flowers bloom. It is planned that by 2025, the goal will be to have an output value of 150 billion yuan of cosmetics, cultivate 2-3 leading enterprises with annual sales income exceeding 10 billion yuan, more than 5 enterprises with annual sales income exceeding 5 billion yuan, and have more than 5 well-known national brands. In the future, Guangzhou will be built into a global cosmetics manufacturing center and consumption center integrating headquarters economy, creative design, product research and development, intelligent manufacturing, marketing and cultural communication, and become a world-renowned "international beauty bay".
Beauty cosmetics are expected to become the "new business card" of Guangzhou manufacturing industry.
What is the strength of Guangzhou’s beauty transformation and development and building an "international beauty bay"?
The first is strong policy support. In recent years, Guangzhou has issued a series of policies to support the development of cosmetics industry, such as "Implementation Opinions of the General Office of Guangzhou Municipal People’s Government on Promoting the High-quality Development of Cosmetics Industry" and "Three-year Action Plan for Improving the Quality and Efficiency of Cosmetics Industry in Baiyun District (2018 ~ 2020)", which covers the construction of industrial parks, R&D funding and other aspects and provides more support for enterprises.
The second is to enrich and complete industrial clusters. Guangzhou’s cosmetics industry chain covers raw material supply, manufacturing, packaging, marketing and other links. Cluster effect helps to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and provide enterprises with more opportunities for cooperation and development. According to the data of cosmetic registration information service platform, as of September 2023, there were 5,569 cosmetic registrants/filers, 1,868 manufacturers and 329 domestic responsible persons in Guangzhou. In Guangzhou alone, there are four cosmetic industrial parks: Baiyun Meiwan, China Meidu, South Meigu and Bay Meigu.
In addition, Guangzhou has bred a number of influential local cosmetics brands, which have brought brand premium and market share to Guangzhou cosmetics industry. With the acceleration of the transformation and upgrading of cosmetics in Guangzhou, the brand of local cosmetics enterprises is gradually improving.
In addition, Guangzhou’s strong international trade ability also opens the door to the world for Guangzhou beauty cosmetics. The export volume of cosmetics in Guangzhou has been increasing in recent years, and a large number of local cosmetics enterprises with technical research and development strength and brand strength have risen. The brand enterprises of "Baiyun Meiwan" have gone out to sea many times this year, realizing the global "grabbing orders".
Pan Helin, co-director and researcher of the Digital Economy and Financial Innovation Research Center of Zhejiang University International Joint Business School, said that the beauty manufacturing industry is one of the new directions for the transformation and upgrading of Guangzhou’s manufacturing industry. Combined with Guangzhou’s positive efforts to cultivate and build an international consumption center city, Guangzhou’s beauty industry is expected to become a "new business card" for Guangzhou’s manufacturing industry in the future. Pan Helin believes that Guangzhou, as a port with a long history of opening to the outside world, has a unique Cantonese beauty culture, and Guangzhou beauty enterprises can combine Cantonese tradition with global trends.
Independent technological innovation promotes Guangzhou beauty cosmetics to go to sea
Thanks to the trend of "full chain transformation" in the industry, "smart manufacturing" with "cutting edge and specialization" has risen in Guangzhou, and the beauty industry is the epitome of it. In recent years, many beauty companies in Guangzhou have actively made efforts to deepen innovative research and application. After years of exploration, Guangzhou local beauty brands have been able to keep pace with foreign brands in terms of hard power such as supply chain and R&D technology, and with the blessing of independent innovation and scientific research, they have turned their attention to the international market.
Guangdong Marubi Biotechnology Co., Ltd. built its own basic research center, with more than 120 patented technologies; Yixian Biotechnology, the first factory of Perfect Diary’s parent company, Yixian E-commerce Group, officially settled in Conghua District, Guangzhou, and joined hands with Cosme Meishi, one of the largest ODM companies in the world, to build a leading beauty factory in Asia integrating R&D, manufacturing and quality control, with an investment of more than 600 million yuan. From OEM to rapid development, a large number of cosmetics manufacturers have increased R&D and innovation, and many of them have been recognized as national high-tech enterprises, leading the transformation and upgrading of intelligent manufacturing in the industry.
Huang Jinfeng, founder, chairman and CEO of Yixian E-commerce, said that in the past few years, the beauty industry has been concerned about the creation of brand Internet, but in fact, this industry needs to have a deep physical industry foundation. Taking Yixian Biotechnology as an example, Yixian E-commerce has planned and cooperated with the upstream supplier Cosme Shijing for many years, keeping the production and packaging of products in their own hands, ensuring the safety of the supply chain and improving the ability to effectively respond to market demand.
Ximuyuan laboratory staff are preparing solutions.
Ximuyuan’s combination of soothing ingredients is also a typical example of independent research and development. "We searched for 22,962 molecules, and after more than 8,000 hours, 4,791 testers and as many as 384 in-vitro and in-vivo efficacy and safety tests, we finally combined this product." Ximuyuan’s R&D staff told reporters that its efficacy of relieving burning stimulation is 4.46 times that of traditional soothing ingredient Portulaca oleracea, and its clinical effect of relieving redness is 11.15 times that of similar German giants. At present, the ingredients of this product have become the "technical platform" for the research and development of Ximuyuan products, which are widely used in sensitive muscle series products and become the core technical support for their product competitiveness.
Guangzhou beauty cosmetics is showing its "beautiful manufacturing" on the world stage. In March this year, Danzi Group went to Italy to participate in the 54th Bologna Beauty Exhibition, which is known as the "first beauty exhibition in the world", and its water code WETCODE became the first China cosmetics brand to enter the European exhibition hall. After boarding the "WCD World Skin Club", Ximuyuan also appeared in the 33rd IFSCC in 2023 and released innovative scientific research results, becoming the youngest sensitive skin care brand to publish technical achievements on IFSCC.
Expert comments
"green beauty", the future can be expected.
The primary factor for local cosmetics enterprises to achieve "overtaking in a curve" in the segmentation field is the raw material end, which not only solves the problem of "sticking neck" in the core technology and components of cosmetics, but also helps Guangzhou beauty cosmetics to walk at the forefront of the global industry through independent innovation. In the future, the direction of green and sustainable development will be the highlight of the global beauty industry.
Chen Feng, an associate researcher at the Institute of Modern Industry of Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences, said that the transformation and upgrading of Guangzhou’s cosmetics manufacturing industry has actively promoted the sustainable development of the beauty industry. With the promotion of environmental awareness and the strengthening of policies, Guangzhou’s cosmetics manufacturing industry pays more and more attention to green environmental protection and sustainable development, and adopts more environmentally friendly materials and production processes, which effectively reduces the adverse impact on the environment. Chen Feng emphasized that this is not only beneficial to the sustainable development of enterprises, but also provides strong support for the continued prosperity of the entire beauty industry in Guangzhou. "These trends will provide new opportunities and challenges for the future development of the beauty industry in Guangzhou, and also require the joint efforts of enterprises, government and society to achieve the goal of high-quality development."
Text/Guangzhou Daily Xinhua City Reporter: Tan Weiting
Figure/provided by respondents
Guangzhou Daily Xinhua City Editor: Zhang Ying