Retail channel
Recently, MINISO stated that its largest store in Spain opened in Madrid on December 20th. This is also the first MINISO LAND store in Europe. This two-story store, covering an area of 1,100 square meters, offers a "theme park style" and approximately 6,000 product varieties.
Brands and the Industry
Recently, the new raw material "sr-Mytilus edulis polypeptide - 3" of Zhanyan Biology has been filed, and the relevant technical requirements have not been announced yet. Public information shows that Mytilus edulis polypeptide is a kind of bioactive peptide, which is rich in natural antioxidant substances. It can scavenge free radicals, reduce oxidative stress response, and has anti - inflammatory effects. The filing of the new raw material also marks a new breakthrough for Zhanyan Biology in the field of bioactive proteins.
On December 23rd, the public notice platform of the National Medical Products Administration showed that PEG - 2 phenyl ether has completed the filing of new cosmetic raw materials and entered the public notice stage. PEG - 2 phenyl ether (filing number: Guo Zhuang Yuan Bei Zi 20240087) is filed by Han Nong Chemical Co., Ltd. The INCI name of this raw material is PEG - 2 Phenyl Ether, and its CAS# is 104 - 68 - 7. It is an organic solvent that can be used in skin care, body care, hair care, color cosmetics, hydrogel masks, and deodorants. Han Nong Chemical Co., Ltd. is a fine - chemical enterprise headquartered in South Korea. Its business in the cosmetics field mainly covers surfactants, emulsifiers, and some hair - care and skin - care products.
According to the public notice platform of the National Medical Products Administration, on December 23rd, 2024, the new cosmetic raw material "sr - Thermus thermophilus polypeptide - 1" (trade name: PholyReC® Photolyase) developed by Peptide Source (Guangzhou) Biotechnology Co., Ltd. successfully passed the review and filing of the National Medical Products Administration and obtained the filing number: Guo Zhuang Yuan Bei Zi 20240088.
Recently, the South Korean beauty brand fwee announced on Xiaohongshu that the brand will adjust its internal operation system and suspend the sales of its Tmall International store on December 17th. The specific reopening date will be announced later.
Recently, the sensitive - skin - care brand d program of Shiseido, a Japanese beauty giant, released a store - closing announcement on its Tmall flagship store. Currently, no relevant store information can be found on the Taobao platform. According to the store - termination - of - operation announcement, the official Taobao flagship store of d program is scheduled to independently terminate its operation on January 15th, 2025.
On December 23rd, according to the announcement of the National Equities Exchange and Quotations, Shenzhen Vicky Technology Co., Ltd. applied to be listed on the New Third Board.
Recently, a business - registration change occurred in Juzi Bio - Technology (HK.02367). Its registered capital increased from approximately 330 million yuan to approximately 690 million yuan, with an increase of approximately 110%.
Recently, Puig released a statement announcing that its strategic partnership with the beauty brand Charlotte Tilbury will be extended until the end of 2030.
Recently, FineToday Co., Ltd., which was split from Shiseido's personal - care business, terminated its IPO plan.
Recently, Changzhou Bright Gene Bio - Medical Co., Ltd. updated the review progress of its listing application on the Beijing Stock Exchange, and its IPO application has been accepted.
On December 31st, Suzhou Jiangtian Packaging Technology Co., Ltd. released an announcement on the progress of its application for public offering of shares and listing on the Beijing Stock Exchange and suspension of trading. According to the announcement, the Beijing Stock Exchange has officially accepted Jiangtian Technology's listing - application materials, and the company's stock has been suspended from trading since December 26th. This means that Jiangtian Technology's IPO process has taken another step forward.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced a proposed rule aimed at establishing standardized testing methods to detect asbestos in talc - containing cosmetics. Asbestos is a known human carcinogen that coexists with talc deposits and may contaminate cosmetics. The testing methods proposed by the FDA include techniques such as polarized light microscopy (PLM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to ensure the safety of talc - containing cosmetics. In addition, manufacturers can rely on the certificates of analysis provided by talc suppliers. The rule also requires manufacturers to keep records to prove compliance with the rule. If the rule is finalized, manufacturers who fail to comply with the testing or record - keeping requirements will have their products considered adulterated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The FDA encourages the public to comment on the proposed rule during the 90 - day comment period.
Recently, it was rumored that Laneige, a skin - care brand under Amorepacific, will completely withdraw from the offline channels in the Chinese market by December 31st, 2024. In response, Amorepacific stated that "the Laneige brand is optimizing and adjusting some offline channels and actively exploring new offline channels, aiming to build a more diverse and integrated online - offline model to better adapt to market trends and meet consumers' needs."
According to the information on the public notice platform of the National Medical Products Administration, recently, the flower extract of Camellia chrysantha (filing number: Guo Zhuang Yuan Bei Zi 20240089) has been successfully filed by Seemagic (Xiamen) Biotechnology Co., Ltd. Camellia chrysantha is a precious plant resource, which is beneficial in scavenging free radicals and other aspects.
Huaxi Bio - Technology Co., Ltd. has recently successfully completed the filing of the new cosmetic raw material sodium N - hyaluronyl glutamate (filing number: Guo Zhuang Yuan Bei Zi 20240090) and entered the public notice stage. This achievement reflects Huaxi Bio - Technology's continuous deepening and innovation ability in the field of biotechnology.
Recently, as there were recent doubts on the Internet claiming that Rabbit Head Mama's toothpaste contains fluorescent agents, Rabbit Head Mama released a video to address this issue. In the response video posted on Rabbit Head Mama's official Xiaohongshu account, it is shown that the R & D engineers of Rabbit Head Mama took three unopened tubes of toothpaste to an offline professional testing institution for testing. The test result indicates that "no fluorescent agents were detected."
Recently, Guangdong Kaisa Jiayun Technology Co., Ltd. announced that 135 million shares of the company held by Jiasu Network were sold through judicial auction and were won by Xin Yuhang. After the transaction, Xin Yuhang's shareholding ratio increased to 21.31%, becoming the controlling shareholder of the company, and Yin Jie became the actual controller of the company.
It is learned that the personal - care and beauty brand Zhoufen under Huayulan Biotechnology has completed the seed - round financing. This round of financing was participated by anonymous investors, and the specific amount was not made public.
On January 13th, the General Administration of Customs of China released the Quantity and Value Table of Key Imported Commodities in December 2024. The import quantity of beauty cosmetics and toiletries was 28,508.3 tons, and the amount was 9.21 billion yuan. From January to December 2024, the cumulative import of cosmetics was 324,778.8 tons, and the cumulative import amount was 116.08 billion yuan, with a year - on - year decline of 9.4% and 7.9% respectively. Both data hit a five - year low.
Recently, Bawei Co., Ltd. invested 5 million yuan in Andeputai (Tianjin) Medical Technology Co., Ltd. (later renamed "Tianjin Bawei Biotechnology Co., Ltd."). Bawei Co., Ltd. holds a 62.5% share and becomes the largest shareholder.
On January 15th, Liren Lijiang added the "Xiaohongshu concept". Other concepts related to the company include the pre - made - dish concept, cross - border e - commerce, venture capital, new retail, the cosmetics concept, the Pinduoduo concept, the Alibaba concept, and the e - commerce concept.
As of January 15th, the public notice platform of the National Medical Products Administration shows that five new cosmetic raw materials have completed the filing. They are ginseng galacturonic acid oligosaccharide filed by LanKe Medical Aesthetics Science and Technology (Jilin) Co., Ltd. (filing number: Guo Zhuang Yuan Bei Zi 20250001); fucosyllactose filed by Hongmo Biotechnology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (filing number: Guo Zhuang Yuan Bei Zi 20250002); camellia oil acyl glycine filed by Jiangxi Chumei Cosmetics Co., Ltd. (filing number: Guo Zhuang Yuan Bei Zi 20250003); the fruit body extract of NAEMATELIA AURANTIALBA filed by Kunming Kang'erxun Bio - Engineering Co., Ltd. (filing number: Guo Zhuang Yuan Bei Zi 20250004); and 3' - sialyllactose sodium salt filed by Shenzhen Reedlin Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (filing number: Guo Zhuang Yuan Bei Zi 20250005).
The export value of South Korean cosmetics in 2024 exceeded 10 billion US dollars (about 73.316 billion yuan), reaching 10.2 billion US dollars (about 74.782 billion yuan), with a year - on - year increase of 20.6%. Statistics show that the export value of South Korean cosmetics last year refreshed the previous historical record of 9.2 billion US dollars set in 2021. Among them, the export value to China was 2.5 billion US dollars (about 18.329 billion yuan), ranking first.
Recently, Wufeng Chicheng Bio - Technology Co., Ltd. applied for a suspension of the review due to the supplementary audit of the financial report. The Beijing Stock Exchange decided to suspend the review of its public offering of shares and listing according to the relevant listing - review rules. It is worth noting that this is the second time that Chicheng Bio - Technology has applied for a suspension of the review.
E-commerce Platform
Recently, TikTok has been facing an operation suspension crisis in the United States. Tens of thousands of overseas users have quickly turned to Xiaohongshu, creating a trend known as the "TikTok refugees." On January 13th, Xiaohongshu topped the download list of the Apple App Store, and this phenomenon has attracted widespread attention. This sudden trend has not only accelerated the interaction and communication among cross-border users. From Chinese math problems to English cloze tests, the platform has become increasingly international in color, and it has also drawn the attention of the global market to this social platform.
Douyin E-commerce launched nine merchant support policies in 2025 to assist merchants in their development in all aspects. The policy of waiving commodity commissions is being accelerated. Some categories in the scenarios of live streaming and short videos have already been piloted, and it will be expanded to more categories in the future. The automatic refund policy for promotion fees will be applied to scenarios such as full refunds, reducing the operating costs for merchants. At the same time, the platform will implement a number of measures to reduce the return rate, lower freight insurance premiums and security deposits, optimize the traffic mechanism, severely crack down on malicious competition, establish a "Small Merchant Support Fund", strengthen communication with merchants, improve the transparency of rules and the efficiency of merchant appeals, comprehensively enhance the merchant experience, create a fair and healthy business environment, help merchants reduce costs and increase revenues, and stimulate market vitality.
International Large Corporations
Recently, Kao Corporation, a giant in the Japanese cosmetics industry, announced that SALA, a hair care brand developed by its subsidiary Kanebo, will gradually stop being sold. Once the inventory in physical stores and online stores is sold out, the SALA brand will officially withdraw from the market. This shutdown involves six products of SALA, such as hair conditioner, curling spray, and straightening ironing essence, marking a significant adjustment of Kao Corporation in the cosmetics market.
Recently, Kao Corporation revealed that the company has successfully developed a new type of physical sunscreen formula that does not contain ultraviolet absorbers. Through innovative technology, the ultraviolet blockers are encapsulated in microcapsules and evenly distributed in the water-based formula. This breakthrough not only enhances the sunscreen effect but also ensures that the skin does not turn white after use and feels refreshing. Kao promises that based on this scientific research achievement, it will further develop daily sunscreen products that are widely loved by global users.
Data shows that in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2025 of Estée Lauder, the sales in the Asia-Pacific region decreased by 11% year-on-year. The weakening of consumer desire, coupled with the recovery of the travel retail business falling short of expectations, has put pressure on the overall performance.
In the first quarter of the fiscal year 2025, the company suffered a net loss of $156 million, while in the same period last year, it had a net profit of $31 million. At the end of last year, Estée Lauder announced the withdrawal of its full-year performance outlook for the fiscal year 2025 and the appointment of the new CEO, Stéphane de La Faverie. Currently, the company is facing the dual challenges of sluggish global market demand and internal management changes.
The L'Oréal Group and the Shiseido Group will successively announce price increases. L'Oréal will raise the counter prices of brands like Lancôme and Kiehl's from February 1st. Shiseido, on the other hand, will increase the prices of nearly 40 products by 1% to 10% on April 17th. In addition, the high-end brand CPB under Shiseido will also have a comprehensive price adjustment covering all product categories. Industry analysts believe that the price increase of high-end beauty products will test the brand's premium pricing ability and may also prompt consumers to turn to more cost-effective product options.
Duty-free Updates
On January 12th, according to Yonhap News Agency, Lotte Duty Free has suspended sales of duty - free goods to major Chinese resellers since this month2. The industry believes that the purpose of Lotte Duty Free's decision to stop trading with Chinese resellers is to improve profitability. In 2024, resellers accounted for approximately 50% of Lotte Duty Free's annual sales. If the cooperation with resellers is cut off, Lotte Duty Free's sales may decline significantly, but there is a general consensus within the company that it is necessary to adjust the business structure to improve profitability even if this is the case.