Next powerhouse? Zhejiang seeks to boost standing internationally by developing local cosmetics industry

The plans were published on the Zhejiang Private Economy Research Centre on July 17​ by the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Economy and Information Technology and Zhejiang Provincial Drug Administration.

The authorities envision the Zhejiang Cosmetics Zone to be a hub containing the headquarters of domestic and international cosmetics companies down to manufacturing, testing and marketing,

“Zhejiang will be built into a high-quality development demonstration zone for China's cosmetics industry and a highland for the cosmetics industry with strong international competitiveness,” ​said the statement.

The government aims to attract three industry-leading companies with an annual sales revenue of over RMB10bn (U$1.43bn) as well as five internationally renowned brands by 2025.

It hopes to leverage on Hangzhou City’s healthy business environment to do so.

“We will take advantage of Hangzhou's good business environment to attract the headquarters of well-known cosmetics companies at home and abroad to establish a headquarters economy for cosmetics.”​

Additionally, it plans to cultivate a batch of ‘cutting-edge’ brands that will account for more than 25% of the domestic beauty market by 2025.

By meeting these goals, it hopes that the zone generates an annual sales revenue of over RMB200bn ($28.6bn) for the province.

A platform for cosmetics

By developing Zhejiang’s cosmetics industry, it hopes to build a one-stop domestic platform for the cosmetics industry.

“With Huzhou Beauty Town as the core, leading enterprises will promote and vigorously attract investment, gather related industries and high-end elements, promote the construction of the entire cosmetics industry chain, and build it into a national beauty industry highland,” ​said the government.

The province hopes to leverage on Jinhua Cosmetics Industrial Park and the support of Yiwu International Trade City to further develop the industry cluster.

Additionally, it plans to construct a series of small and micro cosmetic parks for smaller enterprises to benefit from the platform.

The plans also hope to boost Zhejiang’s capabilities in research and development by increasing policy support and capital investment.

According to the report, the government plans to empower local enterprises to carry out their own research on cosmetic raw materials, production processes, and safety evaluation.

It added that it plans to promote this by fostering cooperate with relevant colleges and universities.

Additionally, it plans to improve the cosmetics testing and evaluation capability to create “first-class cosmetics public testing”.​

This will be led by the Provincial Food and Drug Inspection and Research Institute and involve other institutes such as the National Laboratory for Cosmetic Animal Substitution Testing Technology and the Key Laboratory of Drug Microbiology Testing and the State Food and Drug Administration.

Made in Zhejiang

Ultimately, by developing Zhejiang as a cosmetics hub, the government hopes to promote the ‘made in Zhejiang’ brand and China’s domestic beauty companies.

The cornerstone to achieving this ambition to improve the quality of cosmetics coming out of Zhejiang.

Aside from offering companies guidance on how to improve the quality of their products, the government said it plans to raise and implement standards in the cosmetics industry to ensure the quality and safety of products produced.

This would include the implementation of a digital ‘traceability system’ to emphasis accountability, it said.

These initiatives would benefit companies by increasing their ability to supply of mid- to high-end cosmetics.

Additionally, it hopes to do so by encouraging enterprises to develop strategies for their own brands and strengthen their implementation capabilities.

It said it plans to support local companies to “accelerate the internationalisation of beauty brands” ​and “expand brand awareness and enhance the image of Zhejiang cosmetics.”​

This would involve enabling them to participate in domestic and foreign exhibitions, helping them to register overseas trademarks and actively explore international market opportunities.

Moving forward, the government hopes to help develop and foster the level of creativity among cosmetic companies so they may become the next trendsetters of the industry.