Safety, health and cleanliness have become the main theme in the post-pandemic era with the concept of skin removal based on different skin types and makeup removal for nourishing skins also a concern by consumers. The category of makeup removal has undoubtedly ushered in an outbreak in the Chinese market. In the era of the epidemic, fewer people wear makeup. Many people show an attitude of "who cares" when wearing masks. How will makeup removal products, as a makeup derivative and a link between makeup and skincare products transitional categories, develop in the post-pandemic era in the Chinese market? According to data from O&O Consulting, the retail sales of makeup remover products in China exceeded $1.208 billion from April 2021 to March 2022, up 16.9% year-on-year. According to the survey data, 65% of consumers have the habit of makeup and 63% of consumers also use makeup remover products when they are not wearing makeup, which provides a large consumer base for the Chinese makeup removal market. From the perspective of brand positioning, the data shows that the top 3 brands in the total list of China's top 20 makeup removal brands have changed. In recent years, the rise of China's innovative brands focusing on the field of makeup removal such as ZHUBEN has gradually changed the situation in which foreign brands hogged the Chinese makeup removal market in the past. From April 2021 to March 2022, the Chinese aromatherapy skincare brand ZHUBEN won first place in China's online makeup removal brand with retail sales of more than $110 million and retail sales accounting for 9.1%, surpassing the French makeup remover brand BIODERMA to win the first place in China's online makeup removal brand. While the Japanese makeup brand shu uemura ranked second with 7.9% of retail sales and BIODERMA which previously ranked in the "top" dropped to the third place with retail sales down 30.2% year-on-year and retail sales accounting for 5.8%. From the perspective of brand growth rate, KIMTRUE (705.7%), ROCKINGZOO (697.3%), Eve Lom (185.5%), book by book (149.7%), BOBBI BROWN (146.3%) growth rate is faster from April 2021 to March 2022, of which, Chinese cosmetics brands like KIMTRUE and ROCKINGZOO show explosive growth, with an over 695% year-on-year growth. It is worth noting that in the total list of China's top 20 makeup removal brands on the whole network, there is also a "priceless" unexpected winner, the SPA-level luxury skincare brand Eve Lom acquired by Yatsen last year, the parent company of Chinese makeup brand Perfect Diary, which is the first time Eve Lom has been shortlisted in the list of China's top 20 brands for makeup removal on the whole network, ranking 11 and accounting for 2.1% of retail sales. The gradual release of demand for makeup removal products in China has allured many local Chinese cosmetic brands and intensified competition in the field of makeup removal in China. In addition to the basic cleansing and removing effects, Chinese consumers have more demand for derived skincare benefits, with hydration and soothing being the main skincare needs. In texture, the share of oils and creams with more concentrated skincare ingredients is expanding, gradually diluting the more mainstream makeup remover market in the current. In March 2022, among the best-selling items in the retail sales of makeup remover on MAT China's mainstream e-commerce platform Tmall, the top 3 were two makeup remover oils from ZHUBEN and one makeup remover cream from KIMTRUE. Among them, only 6 of the Top 30 retail best-selling items on Tmall makeup removal are makeup removers and the rest are makeup remover oils, makeup remover creams and other products. With the upgrading of consumption, the portable makeup removal experience that does not affect the effect of makeup removal has become an incremental consumption demand. Recent years have seen China's makeup removal market with the B.F.S. technique doubled. For example, the Chinese makeup brands Florasis and the Korean makeup brand BABREA have launched one-piece clean makeup remover wipes. Chinese cosmetics brands such as Marie Dalgar and xiefuchun have also launched disposable carry-on products with disposable makeup removal oil. The growth potential of makeup removal products is inextricably linked to the transformation of Chinese consumer concepts. Safety, health and cleanliness have become the main theme in the post-pandemic era with the concept of skin removal based on different skin types and makeup removal for nourishing skins also a concern by consumers, so China's makeup removal market has ushered in greater development opportunities and the category of makeup removal has undoubtedly ushered in an outbreak in the Chinese market.

Safety, health and cleanliness have become the main theme in the post-pandemic era with the concept of skin removal based on different skin types and makeup removal for nourishing skins also a concern by consumers. The category of makeup removal has undoubtedly ushered in an outbreak in the Chinese market. In the era of the epidemic, fewer people wear makeup. Many people show an attitude of "who cares" when wearing masks. How will makeup removal products, as a makeup derivative and a link between makeup and skincare products transitional categories, develop in the post-pandemic era in the Chinese market? According to data from O&O Consulting, the retail sales of makeup remover products in China exceeded $1.208 billion from April 2021 to March 2022, up 16.9% year-on-year. According to the survey data, 65% of consumers have the habit of makeup and 63% of consumers also use makeup remover products when they are not wearing makeup, which provides a large consumer base for the Chinese makeup removal market. From the perspective of brand positioning, the data shows that the top 3 brands in the total list of China's top 20 makeup removal brands have changed. In recent years, the rise of China's innovative brands focusing on the field of makeup removal such as ZHUBEN has gradually changed the situation in which foreign brands hogged the Chinese makeup removal market in the past. From April 2021 to March 2022, the Chinese aromatherapy skincare brand ZHUBEN won first place in China's online makeup removal brand with retail sales of more than $110 million and retail sales accounting for 9.1%, surpassing the French makeup remover brand BIODERMA to win the first place in China's online makeup removal brand. While the Japanese makeup brand shu uemura ranked second with 7.9% of retail sales and BIODERMA which previously ranked in the "top" dropped to the third place with retail sales down 30.2% year-on-year and retail sales accounting for 5.8%. From the perspective of brand growth rate, KIMTRUE (705.7%), ROCKINGZOO (697.3%), Eve Lom (185.5%), book by book (149.7%), BOBBI BROWN (146.3%) growth rate is faster from April 2021 to March 2022, of which, Chinese cosmetics brands like KIMTRUE and ROCKINGZOO show explosive growth, with an over 695% year-on-year growth. It is worth noting that in the total list of China's top 20 makeup removal brands on the whole network, there is also a "priceless" unexpected winner, the SPA-level luxury skincare brand Eve Lom acquired by Yatsen last year, the parent company of Chinese makeup brand Perfect Diary, which is the first time Eve Lom has been shortlisted in the list of China's top 20 brands for makeup removal on the whole network, ranking 11 and accounting for 2.1% of retail sales. The gradual release of demand for makeup removal products in China has allured many local Chinese cosmetic brands and intensified competition in the field of makeup removal in China. In addition to the basic cleansing and removing effects, Chinese consumers have more demand for derived skincare benefits, with hydration and soothing being the main skincare needs. In texture, the share of oils and creams with more concentrated skincare ingredients is expanding, gradually diluting the more mainstream makeup remover market in the current. In March 2022, among the best-selling items in the retail sales of makeup remover on MAT China's mainstream e-commerce platform Tmall, the top 3 were two makeup remover oils from ZHUBEN and one makeup remover cream from KIMTRUE. Among them, only 6 of the Top 30 retail best-selling items on Tmall makeup removal are makeup removers and the rest are makeup remover oils, makeup remover creams, and other products. With the upgrading of consumption, the portable makeup removal experience that does not affect the effect of makeup removal has become an incremental consumption demand. Recent years have seen China's makeup removal market with the B.F.S. technique has doubled. For example, the Chinese makeup brands Florasis and the Korean makeup brand BABREA have launched one-piece clean makeup remover wipes. Chinese cosmetics brands such as Marie Dalgar and xiefuchun have also launched disposable carry-on products with disposable makeup removal oil. The growth potential of makeup removal products is inextricably linked to the transformation of Chinese consumer concepts. Safety, health and cleanliness have become the main theme in the post-pandemic era with the concept of skin removal based on different skin types and makeup removal for nourishing skins also a concern by consumers, so China's makeup removal market has ushered in greater development opportunities and the category of makeup removal has undoubtedly ushered in an outbreak in the Chinese market.

Since last year, Shiseido's brand AUPRES has abolished a number of branches in several regions in China and the total number of branches will be reduced from 22 to about 10. However, its online channels still maintain significant growth. Recently, an industry insider disclosed the news that "by last year, Shiseido's brand AUPRES has abolished a number of branches in Dalian, Tianjin, Fuzhou, Chongqing, Kunming, Guangzhou in China to merge to other regions. This year it also plans to merge its branches in Northeast, South and Central China, and the total number of branches will be reduced from 22 to about 10. Most of the people in the office have been laid off, and personnel, finance and education will be cut." In 1991, Shiseido and Beijing Liyuan Limited Company jointly financed the formation of AUPRES' parent company, Shiseido Liyuan Cosmetics Co. Beijing Liyuan Limited Company was officially signed into a 15-year joint venture (Phase I of the partnership) with Shiseido at the government's urging with both parties establishing a new factory in the Beijing Development Zone, with Shiseido taking a 65 percent stake and Beijing Liyuan Limited Company a 35 percent stake. Although the above information was not responded to by the official account, it can be seen in a business searching service platform TianYanCha, a branch of Shiseido Liyuan Cosmetics Co. In Dalian, China is canceled. An agent who is deeply involved with Shiseido Group revealed that for the three northeastern provinces, the branches of the AUPRES in Jilin and Heilongjiang will be merged into Shenyang. This move aimed at saving operating costs and further improving corporate efficiency. For the news that the branch merger, AUPRES internal informed sources said the news is true, the merger has been basically completed. According to the source, this year is the last year of the second phase of cooperation between Beijing Liyuan Limited Company and Shiseido. The cooperation between the two sides will continue but will discuss the details of cooperation, or make minor adjustments in the organizational structure and other aspects in August. AUPRES has laid the early high-end brand status in the department store channel in the Chinese cosmetics market. It met the imagination of the high-end income group in the first and second-tier cities for cosmetics counter brands to be a leader in several department store channels. Its sales also soared from $14.82 million in 1996 to $468 million (2015). At the same time, the number of AUPRES’ counters reached 1,000 with sales in the department store channel once accounting for more than 5% of sales, second only to Estee Lauder and Lancôme. In 2017, AUPRES has now achieved full coverage of 11 prefecture-level cities in Zhejiang Province, and it has sunk to 15 county-level cities in the course of more than 20 years of development, with a total of 60 counters in the province. In the same year, AUPRES, which has been cultivating in the Zhejiang market for more than 20 years, continued to make great efforts and achieved "double-digit growth and retail sales exceeding $15.6 million" in the Zhejiang region. In terms of performance, even compared with many international first-line brands, AUPRES' performance is also outstanding. The person in charge of AUPRES Hangzhou Branch said, "In the past 2017, AUPRES achieved a better performance in Zhejiang Province, reaching double-digit growth. Under the severe situation where international famous brands are competing to enter Zhejiang and rapidly extend the market of third and fourth-tier cities at an alarming rate, AUPRES achieved a good result of ranking fifth in retail in competition with nearly 70 international first-tier famous brands." However, after that, AUPRES was gradually surpassed by L'Oreal Paris. In the past two years, the news that the brand was going are incessant, and the dynamic energy of AUPRES in the department store channel seemed to be insufficient. The person in charge of the department store business described that in the local market, the channel performance of AUPRES has shrunk significantly. Although the brand has made many attempts at rejuvenation in recent years, but the effect is not as expected. Its brand image is difficult to break through resulting in the young audience does not accept it. It is reported that the main sales battlefield of AUPRES is still the department store channel, and its online section achieved significant growth mainly operated by ChanceMate on behalf of the company. It is reported that in AUPRES official flagship store on the Chinese e-commerce platform Tmall, 125 SKUs are available with the highest sales of AUPRES Extra Protection Sunscreen Lotion. Its sales volume achieved 20,000 and was priced at $32.8. From user reviews on Taobao, it can be seen that many users have tried and bought AUPRES’ products on offline counters and then they participate in promotions and repurchase in online stores. In the past two years, AUPRES has also endorsed with Chinese actress Sun Li and Chinese actor Luo Yunxi and other celebrities to increase its exposure and sales. In fact, multiple international beauty brands have quit offline channels since last year such as well-known mass makeup brand Maybelline, L'Oreal's skincare brand YUESAI, South Korea's Amore Pacific Group's mass beauty and skin care products brand Innisfree. Strategic contraction and adjustment have been the keyword for mass beauty brands in the offline store channel but all of these brands did not give up the online channels. Industry insiders pointed out that part of cosmetics brand lack of core competitiveness of the product. And the difficulty of transformation also still exists, online e-commerce has long become a "place of necessity".

On April 20, Xiaohongshu officially launched the management rules for brand violations and points will be deducted for illegal marketing behaviours. After deducting points, it will be punished with different degrees of restriction, ban and other phased disposal measures which apply to all brands that have marketing appeals in Xiaohongshu. On April 20, Beijing time, Xiaohongshu, a social platform for recommendations in China, launched the "Brand Violation Score" to demerit points for the brand's illegal marketing behaviour. This scoring rule applies to all brands that have marketing appeals in Xiaohongshu, including but not limited to brands with certified professional numbers. The platform will continuously monitor the brand's marketing behaviour in the community, scoring non-compliance behaviour every week. Each violation is scored 2 points, with a maximum cumulative total of 10 points. For different scores, the system will dispose of the brand to different degrees such as prompts, note limits and station bans with the disposal cycle varying from 7 to 28 days. Some brands may worry about how will the deducted points be restored after being restricted or banned if they want to continue to operate on Xiaohongshu? In response to this problem, Xiaohongshu suggested that brands should actively self-examine and immediately stop illegal marketing behaviour. The deduction is the disposal of the brand's periodic violations and if the brand wants to restore the score, it needs to maintain no illegal marketing behaviour for 28 days. The formulation of this rule represents a new moment for Xiaohongshu, which is of great significance and even changes the entire brand's input gameplay on Xiaohongshu. At the same time, it has also brought great changes to the upcoming "618" (June 18) shopping festival. At least in terms of marketing strategy, every brand has to start all over again under the new rules. Since Xiaohongshu launched the special governance of "false recommendations" at the end of last year, a total of 81 brands such as Little Dream Garden, Dove, Neutrogena and Nivea have been banned, 172,600 related false recommendation notes and 53,600 illegal accounts have been dealt with. The "Brand Violation Score" is based on the previous stage of governance, using more transparent and visible productization means and continuing to regulate the brand's marketing behaviour on Xiaohongshu. The rules for deducting points for illegal brands on Xiaohongshu will undoubtedly crackdown on the phenomenon of brands using platform notes to share falsely in recent years. For Xiaohongshu, only by formulating rules to regulate user behaviour can it achieve long-term development. Brands need to understand the tone of the platform and abide by the rules of the platform when choosing a platform for marketing. Xiaohongshu: Xiaohongshu is a Chinese recommendation social platform for young people, where users can record life moments, share lifestyles and form interactions based on interests through short videos, graphics and other forms. As of October 2019, the number of monthly active users of Xiaohongshu has exceeded 100 million, of which 70% of users are people born after the 1990s, and the number is continuing to grow rapidly.

The live streaming time of Li Jiaqi, the Chinese internet celebrity streamer and "Yi Ge" (pioneer) in promoting goods sales through live streaming on Taobao, was shortened between 6 and 7 hours to 3 and 4 hours, with the average number of products per live streaming being reduced from about 100 to 60 and 80 pieces and the number of viewers per live streaming between 15 million and 20 million, while the average number of viewers in the past was about 30 million. Beijing time on April 19 (the following occurrence time in Beijing time), according to the live streaming data from Taobao China's live streaming e-commerce consumer platform, compared to the time of the epidemic lockdown, the live streaming time of Li Jiaqi, the Chinese internet celebrity streamer and "Yi Ge" (pioneer) in promoting goods sales through live streaming on Taobao, was shortened between 6 and 7 hours to 3 and 4 hours, with the average number of products per live streaming being reduced from about 100 to 60 and 80 pieces. Since April, Li Jiaqi has been fully participating in live streaming most time. The number of viewers per live streaming is between 15 million and 20 million, which is far from the traffic from 50 to 80 million during the March 8 promotion period and the traffic of about 30 million per live streaming in the past. China's e-commerce industry has developed rapidly and now live streaming has become a standard of e-commerce. However, the streamer will be banned because of the "ruin of their personage", such as the top Chinese streamer Wei Ya who was previously banned for tax evasion. There are also streamers whose live streaming is up to about 10 hours a day and in 2020 Li Jiaqi stopped live streaming and went to the hospital because he was unwell, which topped the trending list of Weibo, a social platform in China. Recent years have seen a continuous expansion of the GEN Z user groups and virtual streamers are loved by user groups born in the new era who are very willing to pay for these so-called "idols". On the one hand, virtual streamers are different from real live streamers in live streaming because no negative public opinion pressure is carried by viewers, which can also bring the audience a real and perceptible interactive experience. On the other hand, virtual streamers conform to the trend of the development of the live streaming industry because they can also automatically allure followers under the state of unmanned live streaming with a 24-hour live streaming a day, reducing the cost of hiring streamers and increasing the live streaming time. On April 15, China's mainstream e-commerce platform Taobao announced the direction of live streaming marketing in 2022, in which virtual digital human and 3D scenes have become the new driving force of the platform. Taobao has created a market for live streaming increments through the new technology engine combining a 3D live-streaming room plus a virtual streamer, with a total of over 1,000 merchants having used a live 3D green screen. On February 28, China's mainstream e-commerce platform JD.com launched a virtual beauty streamer "Xiaomei", which has opened its live streaming debut in more than 20 beauty brand live streaming rooms such as YSL, L'Oréal, OLAY, and KIEHL'S. "Xiaomei" can continue the live streaming online for 24 hours and answer questions for consumers in the live streaming room. Although it sounds like a lot of benefits are correlated with virtual digital humans, there are many differences between virtual IP images and real streamers and there are still many problems in whether they can continue to develop. On the evening of June 3, 2020, in the Tmall All-Star Live streaming Room, the vsinger (virtual singer) Luo Tianyi boarded the live streaming room and greeted everyone: "Hello everyone, I am Luo Tianyi, as the ambassador during "618 shopping festival" (on June 18) on Tmall..." However, in the much-anticipated national warmup video which is different than before, Luo Tianyi showed a hoarse and harsh voice and repeated the same line over and over. In addition, Luo Tianyi also boarded Li Jiaqi's live streaming room, when the two sides recommended goods together, Luo Tianyi said that she wanted to sing. However, technical problems made users in front of the screen fail to hear any sound but see Luo Tianyi's movements. While on the other side, Li Jiaqi did not realize the problem of live streaming and constantly praised Luo Tianyi's beautiful voice. After ending the interaction with Luo Tianyi, Li Jiaqi learned from the staff about the scene of the "fake singing overturning" just now. It can be seen that virtual streamers still have certain technical difficulties when conducting live streaming in actual operation because strict requirements for hardware and software are a must. Its threshold is not low because virtual streamers cannot respond to changes like people and resolve the crisis in some random sudden situations. In an interview, Li Jiaqi also said: "Streamers can make unique innovations based on their own personal experience. Although virtual streamers will imitate Li Jiaqi's mantra and way of promoting goods sales, there is no way to copy Li Jiaqi himself.”

Procter & Gamble has named Jon R Moeller as Chairman of the Board. Moeller assumes the position in addition to his role as President and CEO of the company. In August 2021, P&G gave birth to the youngest Chinese CEO in its history. Jon R. Moeller has been appointed as chairman of Procter & Gamble Company’s Board of Directors, effective July 1, 2022. Moeller assumes the position in addition to his role as president and chief executive officer following the retirement of current executive chairman David Taylor. “I want to recognize and thank David for his leadership of P&G over the last seven years as well as for his 40-plus years of service to the company,” said Moeller. “We have much to thank him for. Among other things, David committed to P&G to achieve balanced top and bottom-line growth, completed the restructuring of our portfolio, and led our most important organization change in decades. We are well-positioned to continue to serve consumers around the world with noticeably superior offerings that improve their lives.” Moeller joined P&G in 1988. He has been a member of P&G’s global leadership team since 2009, serving as a chief financial officer, chief operating officer, and vice chairman. Throughout his career, he has held various senior leadership roles in categories, sectors and regions, and helped build several of P&G’s core businesses. Moeller played a pivotal role in designing and implementing P&G’s portfolio, superiority, productivity and organization design strategy, as part of one of the most significant transformations in the company’s history. He also led the company’s Investor Relations, Information Technology, Global Business Services, Sales, Market Operations, Purchasing, Manufacturing, and Distribution efforts. Before COO, he held the role of P&G’s chief financial officer for more than 12 years. Earlier, Durk I. Jager, former Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of P&G. Durk joined the company in 1970 as a brand assistant for P&G in the Netherlands, and 12 years later was transferred to Japan as an advertising manager and later promoted to general manager. P&G's business in Japan grew from seven brands to 25 national or test market products in just six years. In 1995, he was appointed Chief Operating Officer of P&G and in 1999, he was named Chief Executive Officer of P&G. During the tumultuous transition from the 20th to the 21st century, sales revenue declined for most of P&G's 18 top brands, while competitors with more concentrated businesses like Kimberly-Clark and Colgate Palmolive continued to occupy P&G's market share. At the same time, large retailers had stronger negotiating power and continued to drive down product prices. Durk was appointed to take the helm for only for one year and five months, making him the shortest-tenured CEO in P&G's history. After taking over, Durk had targeted annual sales growth of 7% to 9%, which led to three profit warnings in three months - and lost focus on the company's key products. Durk came under pressure from multiple sources and 17 months later, Durk announced his departure and was succeeded by Ray Foley. The former CEO of P&G, Durk, died on Sunday, April 3 in 2022 at the age of 78. A eulogy on P&G's website reads, "Durk has said 'thinking globally will make us better professionally,' remembering the entrepreneurial spirit and courageous leadership ethos of our former CEO in an era of constant change." P&G China's CEO has also changed. In August 2021, P&G gave birth to the youngest Chinese CEO in its history. Xu Min, former P&G Greater China Vice Chairman, President of Sales and Brand and Brand Operationsofficially assumed the role of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of P&G Greater China on October 1, 2021. A native of China and the first locally trained CEO in P&G's history, Xu joined P&G in 1997 as a management trainee. Since 2015, Xu Min has been in full charge of the e-commerce business and also responsible for P&G Greater China media and brand operations. Since 2017, he has been the President of Brand Management of P&G Greater China. In April 2021, Xu Min was promoted to Vice Chairman of P&G China, taking over from Ke Xinghua, who retired to the U.S. Less than six months later, he was given another important role as Chairman and CEO of P&G Greater China. In six years, under Xu Min's leadership, P&G China's e-commerce business has achieved significant growth. By 2018, the e-commerce business has accounted for more than 30% of the overall Chinese market, becoming the number one ranked sales channel. This means that local Chinese talent has a strong competitive edge when it comes to top cosmetic business management. In recent years, China, which has become the second largest cosmetics market in the world, has maintained high growth despite the severe global epidemic situation. The Chinese market has become a major driver of performance growth for global cosmetics giants. In this context, the giants are paying more attention and investing in the Chinese market than ever before, and replacing or choosing a local helmsman with a better understanding of the Chinese market has become a very worthwhile option to try.

Shandong DoraDoSun Biotechnology Co., Ltd. was fined 50,000 yuan (about $7,848) for falsely claiming that the product has the effect of delaying skin aging when promoting the "SANBAO MULTI-EFFECT FREEZE-DRIED POWDER SET" with the favorable rate reaching 100% on live streaming. On April 14, Beijing time (the following occurrences are all Beijing time), the State Administration for Market Regulation announced the first batch of classic illegal cases that are closely related to the masses and have a bad nature. Among them, a number of cases involved unfair competition behaviours such as false publicity, counterfeiting and confusion in the medical aesthetic market. In the reported cases, DoraDoSun was also among them, which ranked first last year in the sales of beauty and personal care categories in Kwai, China's short video live e-commerce platform. DoraDoSun was informed mainly because its founder made false publicity in the brand's live streaming this time. On September 5, 2021, when the founder Li Haizhen conducted live streaming of the "SANBAO MULTI-EFFECT FREEZE-DRIED POWDER SET" it sold, DoraDoSun announced that the product "contains L−(+)−ascorbic acid, Ectoin, coenzyme Q10 and other ingredients and the above ingredients have the effect of delaying skin aging" through the display board. Ms Li also publicized that the product has a 110,000 praise rate of 100% and emphasized that all the products of "SANBAO MULTI-EFFECT FREEZE-DRIED POWDER SET" are a hundred percent of praise rate. However, DoraDoSun has not been able to prove that the "SANBAO MULTI-EFFECT FREEZE-DRIED POWDER SET" has the same efficacy as the main ingredients such as contains L−(+)−ascorbic acid, Ectoin and coenzyme Q10 after investigation. And the platform data showed that the evaluation of "A GIFT FULL OF LOVE" reached a "ninety-nine percent of praise rate", which was not up to 100%. DoraDoSun was fined 50,000 yuan (about $7,848) for making false or misleading commercial publicity about the features and user evaluations of his products. As we all know, in the context of the market where consumers are paying more attention to the efficacy of products, cosmetic efficacy claims have been a more eye-catching topic in the field of cosmetics in China. It is undeniable that appropriate product publicity will boost the reputation of the product, which can strengthen consumers' preferences for such brands effortlessly. However, some brands often "take advantage of the loopholes of policies" to publish some advertisements misunderstood by consumers, resulting in unfair competition in the market and damaging consumer trust as well. To this end, China is also constantly introducing relevant supporting regulations and carrying out relevant special actions to purify the Chinese cosmetics market. China's Cosmetics Supervision and Administration Regulations, which came into effect on 1 January 2021, stipulate that the efficacy of cosmetics should base on sufficient science. At the same time, China will implement Measures for the Administration of Cosmetic Labels on May 1 this year, which also refines the twelve types of content prohibited by labeling as follows: "the use of medical terms, the use of false, exaggerated and absolute words to give false facts or mislead consumers" and so on. On October 11, 2021, National Medical Products Administration also issued a notice that it will carry out a special action of "cleaning both online and offline environment" for cosmetics from October 2021 to October 2022. It is understood that the action will focus on rectifying the prominent problems of online sales in China, strengthening the main responsibility of cosmetics e-commerce operators, standardizing the order of online sales in the cosmetics market and ensuring the safety of public makeup. False publicity has always been the hardest hit area for cosmetics companies to break the law. The fact that the parent company of DoraDoSun was publicly notified by the State Administration for Market Regulation as a typical example of illegality means that the highest regulatory authorities adhere to the determination to punish false propaganda of cosmetics with a zero-tolerance attitude.

Recently, there have been many big-name beauty brands in the Chinese market touting the "lowest price in history" and even a number of star products of ESTEE LAUDER COMPANIES have been unveiled. As we all know, international cosmetics brands have always been in the leading position in China's cosmetics industry, occupying most of China's market share and even hogging the high-end cosmetics market. In the face of the huge impact of the COVID-19 outbreak as well as the complex and severe market environment, many industries, in particular the beauty industry, have been compelled to shut down. Due to the control of the epidemic, many people have to observe home quarantine and the flow of customers is restricted to the store, leading to the sharply falling sales of many stores as well as a gloomy market. On April 18, Beijing time, the National Bureau of Statistics released the retail sales data of consumer goods in the first quarter of 2022. In the first quarter, the total retail sales of consumer goods totaled $1.704860 trillion, an increase of 3.3% year-on-year. In March, the total retail sales of consumer goods totaled $537.116 billion, down 3.5% year-on-year. Specifically, the total retail sales of cosmetics in March reached $5.413 billion, down 6.3% year-on-year. The total retail sales of cosmetics in the first quarter were $14.890 billion, up 1.8% year-on-year. According to the data released last month, cosmetics retail sales totaled $9.696 billion from January to February 2022, up 7.0% year-on-year. Recently, there have been many big-name beauty brands in the Chinese cosmetics market touting "clearance sale, agent replacement, products nearing their expiration dates" and even a number of star products of ESTEE LAUDER COMPANIES have been unveiled. It is understood that Taobao, China's mainstream e-commerce platform, whose official flagship store of Estée Lauder does not sell "Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Multi-Recovery Complex" (100ml) because the product is especially available in duty-free shops. However, there are a number of personal stores (non-brand official flagship stores) that sell the product at low prices touting the procurement of genuine products directly from duty-free shops, delivery from bonded warehouse, sales promotions at low profits or zero profits and so on, with prices ranging from $31 to $79. In addition, there are star products such as "ORIGINS MEGA-MUSHROOM RELIEF & RESILIENCE Soothing Treatment Lotion" and "DR.CI: LABO SUPER WHITE 377VC RERUM" that are also sold at low prices. In the official flagship store of ORIGINS on Tmall, the "ORIGINS MEGA-MUSHROOM RELIEF & RESILIENCE Soothing Treatment Lotion" (200ml) is priced at about $56 but priced as low as $12 in other personal stores. The "DR.CI: LABO SUPER WHITE 377VC RERUM" (40ml) is sold for about $34 in its official flagship store on Tmall while for $11 in other personal stores. So why do these big-name cosmetics rarely on sale have been sold at such low prices at present in personal stores and where do they come from? Several factors could explain the super low prices, but the one that dominates is the impact of the epidemic on the cross-border trade of cosmetics. Since the beginning of this year, the COVID-19 outbreak once again raged through Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. There is a risk of outflow to coastal areas such as Jiangsu and Zhejiang recently, but there are many bonded warehouses in these areas and many cross-border cosmetics traders have goods stored in the local area. In order to avoid product backlogs and rapidly recover the turnover of funds, traders have chosen to sell products by cutting prices. Another factor lies in the restriction of cross-border travel due to the epidemic. The tourism retail channel has been hit hard, resulting in the outflow of a large number of big-name beauty products from the duty-free shop channels in other countries except for China. Generally speaking, most of the supply of cosmetics in China's bonded warehouses comes from duty-free shops in South Korea and Japan, of which the goods flowing out of Korean duty-free shops can account for 70%. However, due to the impact of the epidemic, the number of tourists visiting South Korea has dropped sharply, so a large number of big-name cosmetics from duty-free shops have flowed into the Chinese market. In summary, if the supply increases significantly over a period of time with the glut of supply being clearer than the demand, then the price of products will naturally fall.

On the afternoon of April 18, Zou Yue, the deputy general manager of the R&D center of China cosmetics company JALA, attended the online sharing meeting about China's trend, unveiling the group's research and application exploration of outer space skincare technology and also telling the story of JALA's high-tech anti-ageing brand MAYSU and space. Mr Zou said that JALA has studied the cosmetic raw material "Space Ginseng Yeast" through cooperation with space agencies and applied it to its own brand MAYSU to launch the "advanced skin regeneration and repair". In addition, a space cream ("PLUM BLOSSOM") under MAYSU was selected for female astronauts in space. According to MAYSU's official website, the brand originated in Shanghai and originated from the praise of modern Chinese women in the heart. As an original high-end beauty brand in China, it is committed to creating anti-ageing products that integrate high technology, high efficacy, high concentration, and high value. MAYSU also perfectly integrates the essence of oriental beauty and the world's cutting-edge technology, starting from the culture, diet, and skin characteristics of oriental people and creating tailor-made cosmetics with "Wu Gan Liu Jue" (Wu Gan usually refers to the sense of respect, nobility, security, comfort and pleasure felt by the customer. Liu Jue refers to sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste and subconscious perception.) and excellent efficacy for oriental women, thus fully meeting their desire for beauty. Since 2001, MAYSU has been engaged in professional beauty, fully listening to the voices of oriental women, and is committed to integrating the ultimate oriental aesthetics into every detail of brand spirit, visual expression, and product development. MAYSU has a long history with space. On June 11, 2013, JALA, the parent company of MAYSU, carried the first space research project into space through the "Shenzhou 10" manned spacecraft and docked with the "Tiangong-1" space capsule. In this "Space Lab", MAYSU's personnel in R&D selected hundreds of millions of yeasts with skincare effects and strong vitality from a large number of yeasts and cultivated the carried strains in the extreme space environment. After returning to the earth, the scientists of biology, botany, and skin medicine successfully activated 104 strains of yeast after four years of a large number of experiments and continuous screening and then after 1,253 experiments, those scientists finally screened out a "space yeast" with super vitality by using 12 scientific methods. Experiments have proved that this superspace yeast has greatly improved its ability to resist harsh environments and radiation resistance. In October 2016, MAYSU successfully applied the "space ginseng yeast" developed by MAYSU to cosmetics, and launched "GINSENG SEED ESSENCE LOTION CONCENTRATED REGENERATION BOOSTER" and "GINSENG SEED INTENSIVE SERUM CONCENTRATED REGENERATION BOOSTER". In May 2019, MAYSU's first high-efficiency "advanced skin regeneration and repair" was also successfully launched. "Space Ginseng Yeast" can promote the ability of epidermal renewal, accelerate the renewal cycle of the stratum corneum and significantly enhance the skin's self-regeneration. After using space ginseng yeast, the number of base-derived proteins increased by up to 63%, promoting skin repair from the bottom of the muscle. In addition, space ginseng yeast also has a good effect on the repair of Elastin. At present, in the flagship store of MAYSU on Taobao, the "advanced skin regeneration and repair" is priced from $42 to $58. In addition, MAYSU's PLUM BLOSSOM series products were used by female astronauts twice in 2021. On September 20, 2021, MAYSU's PLUM BLOSSOM series followed the Tianzhou-3 into aerospace for female astronauts to live in space for 180-day skincare needs. On October 16, 2021, the product followed the Long March 2F Yao-13 carrier rocket carrying the Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft into space, becoming the designated skincare product used by female astronauts on the space station. It is understood that the star item of MAYSU's PLUM BLOSSOM series is the space cream (PLUM BLOSSOM MULTI-REJUVENATING CONCENTRATE CREAM ANTI-WRINKLE FIRMING), which adopts the cutting-edge "PLUM BLOSSOM anti-ageing technology", selecting plum blossom embryo and extracting its anti-ageing essence by ultra-low temperature process. The process safely concentrates all activity so that the space cream enhances skin elasticity and minimizes fine lines. It's also added important ingredients like PEUCEDANUM GRAVEOLENS (DILL) EXTRACT and Areginine Essence to promote the rebalancing of the synthesis in Elastin, reduce the accumulation of premature ageing protein, improve relaxation and sagging, effectively fight wrinkles and restore skin elasticity. In addition, the "PLUM BLOSSOM MULTI-REJUVENATING CONCENTRATE CREAM ANTI-WRINKLE FIRMING" added some effective moisturizing and hydrating ingredients to help repair the epidermal barrier function, maintain the skin's healthy self-moisturizing ability and reduce water loss. During the 2021 Double Eleven Shopping Festival, the official flagship store of MAYSU on Tmall increased by 240% year-on-year and many of MAYSU's series of skincare products were among the best-selling lists, including the "PLUM BLOSSOM MULTI-REJUVENATING CONCENTRATE CREAM ANTI-WRINKLE FIRMING".

On April 15, Beijing time, Taobao and Tmall released the White Paper on Sensitive Skin Market Trends, which summarized the development status and future trends of sensitive skin categories from the aspects of market trends, user scale, a report on users' information and brand marketing patterns. At present, the current buzz in the Chinese skincare sector relates to sensitive skin. The incidence of skin problems such as skin sensitivity is gradually increasing due to the effect of air, environment, pressure, irritating food and other factors. Frequent makeup, too much makeup removal, abuse of products, Aesthetic Medicine and other factors also bring certain pressure to the skin barrier. According to the World Health Organization, 70% of Asian people have sub-healthy skin, of which 60% of urban women show sensitive skin. On April 15, Beijing time, China's mainstream e-commerce platform Taobao and Tmall released the White Paper on Sensitive Skin Market Trends (hereinafter referred to as the White Paper), which systematically summarized the development status and future trends of sensitive skin categories from the aspects of market trends, user scale, a report on users' information and brand marketing patterns. In 2019, China exceeded $2.126 billion in dermatological (sensitive skin) skincare market capacity and reached $38.349 billion in skincare terminal retail sales with sensitive skincare products accounting for only 5.5% of the Point of Sale Terminal in the entire skincare industry. In terms of growth rate, the average annual compound growth rate of sensitive skincare products reached 23.2% from 2014 to 2019, which is much higher than the compound annual growth rate of China's cosmetics industry from 2014 to 2019 (9.9%). According to public information, the market size of skincare products aimed at sensitive skin in China will reach $4.550 billion in 2022, with a compound growth rate of 27.0% in the past three years. Among them, the growth rate of China's online market is even more rapid and the growth rate of the sensitive skincare market on Taobao and Tmall has exceeded 40% for two consecutive years with the market size exceeding ten billion yuan (more than $1.569 billion) in 2021. Although the proportion of dermatological skincare products in the cosmetics market has continued to increase in recent years, a big gap in the penetration rate of overseas markets still prevails. According to the data, compared with the average global market, the United States and Western Europe accounted for 10.3%, 14.7% and 22.9% of the overall sales of skincare products in 2019 respectively, China's sensitive skin products accounted for only 5.5% and thereby there is still a one to three times of gap to catch up. In the White Paper, it is not difficult to find that the main population with sensitive skin is women aged 20 to 30 in China's second-and third-tier cities who may make up and remove makeup almost every day due to the needs for work and life, which leads to quite serious skin sensitivity. Compared with the overall consumer population, the sensitive skin consumer group is clearer in terms of the skincare purpose because they show a stronger preference for the function. In the keywords of searches, the proportion of function-related keywords is generally higher, among which the demand for hydration and moisturizing, cleaning, whitening, acne removal and other effects is higher and the ingredients such as salicylic acid, aloe vera gel and amino acids are more concerned. The function is a bridge between brands and sensitive skin consumers, who are eager to have consistent and functional skincare products to help solve their skin troubles. The data shows that brand words account for about 60% of the total number of search terms for sensitive skin groups, and the TOP 10 brands preferred by severe sensitive skin groups are mainly professional sensitive skin brands such as WINONA, freeplus, Curel and Avène have become the first choice. In terms of consumer categories, the mild care population and the mild/occasional population are more convergent, with the demand for face care sets, cleansers and masks ranking in the top three, while the demand for serums and creams is more pronounced among mediately sensitive and highly sensitive people. The arrival of consumption upgrades has made consumers pay more attention to the quality of products and they are more willing to pay for cost-effective products. Consumer demand continues to shift in the direction of health, safety and convenience and such consumption upgrades are more urgent in the sensitive skin market.

General Administration of Customs.P.R. China: The import volume of cosmetics and toiletries in March was 35,886.9 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 12.97%, and the import value was $20.346 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 14.37%. On April 13, Beijing time (the following dates are all Beijing time), General Administration of Customs.P.R. China released the data of China's import and export in March and the first quarter. China's total import and export value in March was $504.79 billion, up 7.5% year-on-year. Among them, exports were $276.08 billion, a year-on-year increase of 14.7%, and imports were $228.7 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 0.1%. This is the first time since August 2020 that imports have turned negative and imports have turned weaker than expected. In the first quarter of this year, the total value of foreign trade imports and export was $1.48 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 10.7%, and the foreign trade imports and export started smoothly. Among them, exports were $820 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13.4%, and imports were $660 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7.5%. The foreign trade import and export has continually grown and maintained a positive year-on-year growth for seven consecutive quarters. Among them, 35,886.9 tons of beauty cosmetics and toiletries were imported in March, a year-on-year decrease of 12.97%, and the sales revenue was $2.0346 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 14.37%. In the first three months, China imported a total of 97,505.2 tons of beauty cosmetics and toiletries, a year-on-year decrease of 2.9%, and the sales revenue was $54.524 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 6.2%. In terms of imports, China's imports of cosmetics and toiletries in March and the first quarter were significantly weaker, showing a downward trend. The main reason is that the Russian-Ukrainian conflict superimposed on the epidemic has caused a series of problems such as continuous rise in commodity prices, inflation, and supply chain crisis. At the same time, the current round of the epidemic in China has shown multiple outbreaks, which continue to impact logistics and drag down consumption. The severe epidemic situation in coastal cities such as Shanghai has also had a certain impact on imports. According to the "Amount Table of Imported Commodities from Some Countries (Regions) in February 2022" issued by General Administration of Customs.P.R. China, the top five imported cosmetics in China are the European Union, Japan, France, the United States, and South Korea. It is worth mentioning that many of the products Chinese consumers are keen to buy come from member states of an agreement. On November 15, 2021, the "Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership" (hereinafter referred to as RCEP) was officially signed. A total of fifteen countries have signed this agreement, including the ASEAN countries, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. In this way, the free trade zone with the largest population, the most diverse member structure and the greatest development potential in the world was born. According to statistics from Customs of the people's Republic of China, China’s imports and exports to the other fourteen RCEP member countries amounted to $450 billion in the first quarter of 2022, a year-on-year increase of 6.9%, accounting for 30.4% of China's total foreign trade value. Among them, exports were $220 billion, an increase of 11.1%, and imports were $230 billion, an increase of 3.2%. The signing of RCEP makes it easier and faster for China to introduce excellent beauty brands. Under the international unified rules, the entry threshold for imported brands will be lowered. After China joins RCEP, it will definitely cut tariffs within the rules and reduce the burden of imported cosmetics agents.

Vichy DERCOS, a subsidiary of L’Oreal, donated two million yuan (about $310,000) to support the "The Public Welfare for Skin and Hair Health Medical Development". Vichy, as a pioneer in the study of skin exposure histology for 40 years, promotes and encourages research on skin exposure histology by launching the Vichy Global Exposure Histology Research Fund. Vichy DERCOS, a subsidiary of L’Oreal, donated two million yuan (about $310,000) to provide professional technology, experimental platforms and other means to support "The Public Welfare for Skin and Hair Health Medical Development". The project was jointly initiated by the National Clinical Research Center for Dermatologic and Immunologic Diseases and the China Health Promotion Foundation, aiming to benefit patients with scalp and hair diseases. Currently, there are an estimated 49 million patients with scalp seborrheic dermatitis and 5.3 million patients with scalp psoriasis in China. According to a survey conducted by the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China in 2019, about 250 million people have hair loss problems, of which the proportion of hair loss before the age of 30 can be as high as 84%, with hair loss problems developing at a younger age. However, targeted research in the field of scalp hair in China is still at a relatively early stage. Compared with general skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis and acne, the academic and public attention to scalp hair diseases is low and epidemiological research is late bringing clinical diagnosis and treatment data limited. There is an urgent need to strengthen research and education in related fields. That caused The Public Welfare for Skin and Hair Health Medical Development born. Globally, Vichy, as a pioneer in the study of skin exposure histology for 40 years, promotes and encourages research on skin exposure histology by launching the Vichy Global Exposure Histology Research Fund. The 2021 Asia-Pacific recipient, Dr. Zhao Qi from the School of Public Health, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, has been awarded funding for his research project "The interaction of long-term exposure to multiple air pollutants and climate factors and its impact on external skin aging in a Chinese population. Vichy has always been committed to "focusing on skin science and health" and has continued to strengthen its research and development in the field of skin science, especially in the field of "exposureomics", a cutting-edge research area that is closely related to patients, consumers' living environment and lifestyle. It is committed to supporting the development of the discipline in multiple ways. Nowadays, Chinese consumers' awareness of scalp care is gradually increasing. According to Tmall New Product Innovation Center, more than 80% of the population is concerned about their scalp health, and 40% of them are very concerned about scalp care, which has led to rapid growth of the scalp care market. As a professional scalp care series specializing in various scalp problems, Vichy DERCOS continues to pay attention to consumers' demands for scalp care and has keen insight into the three new trends of high-end, skincare and efficacy in the field of scalp care. With the rapid development of the Chinese economy, the demand and quality of people's daily life has further improved and the consumption level of toiletries has been raised. The market scale of the toiletries industry has expanded rapidly. According to the cross-border shampoo/hair care retail list of O&O Consulting from January to December 2021, the total cross-border online retail sales of shampoo/hair care exceeded $686 million, accounting for the total sales of this category across the network by 14.1%. In addition, the unit price of cross-border products is higher with the average transaction price reaching $13.5, $3.3 higher than the average transaction price across the network. In Guangzhou 2022 (the fourth) China Cosmetic Trends Conference and Efficacy Cosmetics Exhibition, leader of L'Oréal Vichy (China) He Xinyi brought the address of "A New Era of Efficacy Scalp Care". High-end scalp care: the potential of the scalp care market continues to be released, leading to the development of high-end consumption. The growth rate of scalp care consumption is about 1.7 times faster than the growth rate of ordinary shampoo consumption, and the unit price of scalp care is about 1.5 times the price of ordinary shampoo. Skincare of scalp care: consumers’ knowledge about the category is increasing and know how to care for their hair. This is reflected in the more segmented and diversified wash and care steps and products, skincare-grade ingredients and high efficacy claims also appear in scalp care products. Efficacy of scalp care: Consumers of different ages are increasingly concerned about product efficacy, with anti-dandruff and oil control being the most searched buzzwords for shampoo products. Efficacy-based products are growing at a fast pace, and consumers are concerned about safety as well as high efficacy. L'Oreal Group is currently the world's and China's largest cosmetics group, which started with hair care products. The four segments of the group all have involvement in hair care products, providing products with different positioning for different consumers. Among them, Vichy belongs to the Active Health Cosmetics Division, and its DERCOS is a professional scalp care line recommended by many dermatologists around the world. It landed in the Chinese market in 2021 and also made a special launch event. In fact, the Vichy DERCOS line has a history of 58 years in the international market, with the first shampoo product for seborrheic dermatitis launched as early as 1968 and the first anti-loss serum invented in 1974. All of our products have been clinically proven to show significant efficacy in scalp care.