Spes, a Chinese research-based head care brand, has completed a Series A round of funding of nearly $31 million. Spes, a Chinese research-based head care brand, has completed a Series A round of funding of nearly $31 million, led by China Renaissance New Economy Fund from China Renaissance, co-led by a leading Chinese fund and followed by its former shareholder SIG and exclusive financial advisory by LightHouse Capital. This round of funding will be used to strengthen the product layout of "cleansing, care, dyeing and style" in the head care category. Founded in April 2020, "Spes" has put more energy in scalp care with efficacy of oil control as its first selling point. It finally became popular in consumers with its Scalp-Cleansing and Hair Puffy Sla Salt Cream and Washing-free Hair Spray and took the lead in the functional head care category. According to the official information provided by the brand, up to now, the total sales of Scalp-Cleansing and Hair Puffy Sla Salt Cream exceeded 3 million bottles and the total sales of Washing-free Hair Spray exceeded 6 million bottles. The former created a new category of hair cleansing cream and the latter drove the sales of Washing-free Hair Spray to increase by 2630%. During the "Double 11"(Chinese Shopping Carnival) in 2021, the sales of "Spes" increased by more than 10 times year-on-year, which was one of the fastest growing new brands. In December this year, Spes also released a new hair dyeing product - Spes PREMIUM Hair Dye Trendy Bubble Hair Colour. According to the team, this new product has achieved two debut in industry: the first is application of the brand's exclusive structural restoration technology in hair coloring products to repair hair at the same time. The second is first breakthrough design process to achieve the convenient and fast operation of one press to dye to solve the problems of "hair dyeing will damage your hair" and "novice will fail to dye hair". At present, "Spes" has invested in the establishment of a global innovation and research center, reached strategic cooperation with world-class professional scholars and more than 10 world-renowned research institutions and laboratories, including the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhejiang University and other famous research institutes in China, as well as research institutions from the United States, Japan, France and other countries. At the same time, "Spes" has also set up a joint R&D center with French Sethic Innovation Labo and Manam (China) Biotechnology Center.

The first offline exclusive store of Chinese skincare brand Winona focusing on sensitive skin was officially opened in Intime Department Store in West Lake District in Hangzhou. The store is divided into two main areas: the merchandise sales area and the service area. On December 25, the first offline exclusive store of Chinese skincare brand Winona focusing on sensitive skin was officially opened in Intime Department Store in West Lake District in Hangzhou. The store is divided into two main areas: the merchandise sales area and the service area. Winona's star products such as Anti-Sensitive Moisturizing Tolerance-Extreme Cream and Anti-Sensitive Essence are available on the counter. Winona also launched the "Firming and Repair Series" for the first time offline. This series of products includes firming and repairing eye cream, firming and wrinkle-reducing essence cream, firming and anti-wrinkle essence water, and so on. In the service area, Winona's BA can do skin analysis for customers through professional skin testers to help customers understand their skin condition and choose skin care products that are more suitable for them. As the core brand of BTN Group, Winona's main sales channel currently comes from e-commerce. Nevertheless, its offline still maintain strong growth. In the first half of this year, for example, Bethenny pointed out in its semi-annual results presentation that Winona's offline growth during the period exceeded 90% year-on-year. This is mainly due to the new expansion channels including Watson's, H.E.A.T and so on which helps a great to offline. In June last year, Winona broke the original channel and entered the offline beauty chain retail channel Watson's for the first time. Up to now, the Winona brand has been stationed in nearly 1700 Watson's stores. On September 25 this year, Winona opened its first offline experience center in Shanghai, namely Winona Lingkong Experience Center. The overall area of the experience center is more than 600 square meters. In addition to product display and skin testing, there is also an independent 24-hour live broadcast room on the first floor which better combines online and offline. This time, the first counter of Winona China department store has officially landed, which also means that it has taken another step forward in the expansion of offline channels. In 2019, Winona occupies 23.4% of China's dermatological-grade skincare market share and is the No. 1 in China in 2019 and 2020. Winona was ranked Top 6 in the beauty and skincare category by Tmall this year on Double 11(Chinese Shopping Carnival) becoming the only Chinese brand to be listed in the Beauty TOP for 4 consecutive years.

French skincare group L'Occitane has announced that it will acquire approximately 83% of body care brand Sol de Janeiro for $450 million. Sol de Janeiro is one of the fastest-growing high-end skincare brands in North America. French skincare group L'Occitane has announced that it will acquire approximately 83% of body care brand Sol de Janeiro for $450 million. The total cash will be settled by the company's cash on hand and existing bank financing. Related transactions will complete before Dec. 31 at the earliest and the business combination will start at the beginning of the year. After the transaction, Sol de Janeiro’s founder Heela Yang will continue to serve as CEO and hold the remaining 17 percent of the stake. She said that the brand's capabilities in distribution and R&D will be significantly enhanced with the support of L'Occitane Group. Sol de Janeiro was founded in the U.S. in 2015 by Heela Yang and its products are made with ingredients sourced from the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. It sells body care, fragrance and hair care products directly to consumers primarily through its website. According to data, Sol de Janeiro's sales jumped 54 percent year-over-year to $60 million last year. Given that Sol de Janeiro is one of the fastest-growing high-end skincare brands in North America, management from L'Occitane Group said that the deal complements the group's existing business strategy and will stimulate further growth. According to the information, the L'Occitane Group currently has five brands- L'OCCITANE en Provence, Melvita, Le Couvent des Minimes, Erborian and L'OCCITANE au Brésil - in addition to the group's 2019 acquisition of British skincare brand Elemis. In the six months ended September 30, L'Occitane Group sales soared 18.6% year-on-year to $821 million in virtue of strong growth of 21.7% and 33.1% for L'Occitane en Provence and Elemis, while LimeLife was affected by last year's high base with a decrease of 28.7%. However, the group's revenue slowed in the second fiscal quarter, posting an 11.4% increase. China is still L'Occitane's most significant source of revenue, jumping 17.3% year-on-year to $763 million. By the end of the reporting period, L'Occitane Group had 1,501 directly operated retail stores worldwide and had a net decrease of 22 stores compared to the same period last year. It is worth noting that several banks have given a positive and approving attitude to L'Occitane Group's latest acquisition. Citi said that L'Occitane's valuation of the Sol de Janeiro deal was reasonable in a report and that Sol de Janeiro's financial performance was strong raising its revenue growth forecast to 7% and 8% for 2023 and 2024 and maintaining its buy rate. Lyon also believes that the acquisition of Sol de Janeiro will have a positive impact on the Group's future growth, which help it to better position itself in the online and youth markets. For its part, Fury highlights that Sol de Janeiro has a relatively mature digital and care business in the US to fill the gap in the US market for L'Occitane Group. L'Occitane USA, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New Jersey state court in February due to the pandemic, recently said its restructuring plan was completed after receiving approval from the New Jersey District Bankruptcy Court. It reduced the number of stores from 166 to 133 to pay off all debts. Analysts from Fury said Sol de Janeiro would contribute 5% to L'Occitane's sales growth and 6% to net profit next year and it would maintain sales growth of between 30% and 40% over the next three to five years with gross margins continuing to rise.

Abstract: General Administration of Customs. P.R.China has decided to cancel the filing of domestic consignees of imported cosmetics.

The campaign's tag line, “Looks Like Foundation, Acts Like Skincare,” highlights the continued consumer demand for skin-benefiting makeup. BareMinerals is getting even more bare. The clean, cruelty-free makeup and skincare brand is launching its Bare Your Best Skin campaign, stating that starting January 2022 it will no longer retouch or filter assets promoting the brand. The campaign is supporting the brand’s extensive complexion category, including launches from its BarePro, Original and Complexion Rescue collections. The move toward unretouched promotion and the campaign’s tag line, “Looks Like Foundation, Acts Like Skincare,” caters to continued consumer demand for the conflation of makeup and skincare by showcasing the skin-improving benefits of the products. To indicate a photo’s credibility, the brand will mark each digital and paid media asset, including imagery and videos, with an unretouched watermark. The watermark kicks off with the launch of the BarePro 16-hr Skin-Perfecting Powder Foundation on Dec. 26. “With innovation and proven performance at the heart of our brand, we are committed to ensuring our complexion content accurately represents the efficacy of our products,” said Serena Giovi, BareMinerals chief marketing officer. “Our community values and celebrates natural beauty, product performance and transparency, which made the decision to go filter-free an easy one. Our upcoming content will showcase the effectiveness and true payoff of our complexion products, ensuring consumers understand the authentic results they can expect with each use.” The powder foundation boasts clean, naturally derived ingredients, including pineapple complex to help brighten and smooth, and peony extract and sugarcane-derived squalane to help hydrate the skin. The formula is vegan and talc-free and available in 35 shades. The focus on real images was catalyzed with the Dove Real Beauty campaign in 2004, which featured real women rather than models. In 2019, CVS announced a similar initiative to stop retouching beauty images. Advent International acquired BareMinerals from Shiseido Americas in August of this year.

Kwai E-commerce will combat illegal action of selling counterfeit in platform. If the violation is serious, the merchants will be banned accounts, taken down all goods permanently, restricted to launch new goods, banned on commercial advertisement and other penalties. In the evening of December 22nd, Chinese e-commerce platform Kwai issued a revised announcement of the “‘Sale of Counterfeit Goods’ Implementation Rules” and a revised announcement of the “‘Sale of Counterfeit Goods’ Implementation Rules (Cross-border Merchants) “ to the crackdown on counterfeit sales on the platform. The revised rules are added the determination of counterfeit goods. The platform will access goods by inspecting big data technology, verifying gained samples. Kwai also apply the authenticity of the identification method released by official website and other public channels to identify the goods. In terms of violation, the platform has strengthen the punishment. Among them, if the violation are particularly serious, the merchants should pay default of $15,700 in, be deducted 100 points, banned accounts, taken down all goods permanently, restricted to launch new goods, banned on commercial advertisement and suspend settlement for 30 days. While the platform has the right to report violations to the relevant authorities. Other violations of penalties are increased banning time of the account. Extremely serious violation include, but are not limited to: merchants repeatedly selling counterfeit and pirated goods in an improper manner and causing damage to the interests of a large number of users, merchants maliciously circumventing platform rules, hiding or obscuring information related to commodity brands, trademarks, logos and generating serious public opinion problems. In addition, Kwai E-commerce also emphasizes that the platform has the right to close orders of the selling shoddy goods. Kwai E-commerce founded in October 2018. In May 2019, Kwai’s self-built trading function went public to gradually improve the e-commerce infrastructure within the platform. In more than two years, Kwai E-commerce has developed very rapidly and showed explosive growth. Its GMV skyrocketed from 100 million (about $15 million) in 2018 to 59.6 billion (about $9.357 billion) in 2019. Its GMV broke 381.2 billion (about $598.48 billion) in 2020. Based on its strong community culture, high penetration and high reach, Kwai rapidly grew into one of the key community e-commerce platforms in China.

The relevant Chinese authorities are also preparing to draft a list of cosmetic whitening agents, which is expected to have a further impact on the definition of whitening cosmetics in China when it is released.

JD announced that Tencent Holdings' stake in JD will be reduced from approximately 17% to approximately 2.3%. On December 23, JD Group announced that Tencent Holdings Limited, which currently indirectly holds approximately 17.0% of the JD's outstanding shares and JD will distribute its 457,326,671 (approximately 460 million) Class A ordinary shares of JD Group to its shareholders. After the distribution, Tencent's shareholding in Jingdon will be approximately 2.3%, while Tencent's shareholders who receive shares of JD in this distribution will become shareholders of JD. At the same time, Liu Chiping has resigned from JD’s Board of Directors with immediate effect. He has been a member of the company's board of directors and a member of the remuneration committee since March 2014. For its part, Tencent also announced that the company will distribute to its shareholders its holdings of approximately 460 million Class A common shares of JD Group, and Tencent shareholders who receive shares of JD in this distribution will become new shareholders of JD. Tencent and JD will continue to maintain a mutually beneficial business relationship, including the existing strategic cooperation agreement. Specifically, the approximately 460 million shares to be distributed represent 86.4% of Tencent's Class A common shares of JD Group, or approximately 14.7% of the total number of issued shares in JD Group. After the distribution, Tencent's shareholding in JD will drop from 17% to 2.3% and it will no longer be the largest shareholder. Based on JD's closing price of HK$279.2 per share on December 22, 2021, Tencent's allocation of approximately 460 million shares is valued at approximately HK$127.7 billion (equivalent to approximately $16.373 billion).

On the first anniversary of his appointment, Wang Yi is leading Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products China to a new era of rapid growth while fierce competition during the post-pandemic market in China. What direction will Wang Yi guide the company? Technology leads the future Editor's Note：As the leader of global economic growth, China's beauty market is booming. The market breaking through trillions of dollars in volume will soon become the top in the world. Looking into the future, international beauty giants prepare for the competition while domestic enterprises are following. Whether the big ship proceeds smoothly without a hitch, the helmsman is responsible for an important mission. Qeyes holds a column "CEO on Trends" and we interview CEOs from well-known cosmetic companies at home and abroad to discuss the future increment and trends of the Chinese market. In December 2020, Wang Yi became the helmsman of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products China serving as the president of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products China. On the first anniversary of his appointment, Wang Yi is leading Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products China to a new era of rapid growth while fierce competition during the post-pandemic market in China. What direction will Wang Yi guide the company? Throughout "the Beauty of Health" "In recent years, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products has made significant progress in various lines. As for this year, our brands ranked front in the respective category such as Dr.Ci:Labo, Neutrogena, Listerine and Aveeno on the promotion on June 18th and November 11th." At the starting of the interview, Wang Yi talked about in proud the development of Johnson & Johnson consumer brands in recent years. Wang Yi said that the demand for health from consumers has rose a new level since the outbreak of the pandemic. Driven by the booming of a self-sufficient economy, Z-Generation also has an increasing demand for beauty. The brand growing against the dilemma of the economic recession as the duration of pandemic can't achieve without the philosophy "the Beauty of Health" that Johnson & Johnson Consumers Products adheres to. In the fourth China International Import Expo held in November, Johnson & Johnson participated the expo in the theme of "Innovation Contributing to Building Healthy Future" and seven brands such as Dr.Ci:Labo, Neutrogena, Aveeno, Rogaine, Listerine of Johnson & Johnson has brought their innovative products to participate the Expo. Brands from Johnson & Johnson's consumer brought a variety of products to meet the rapidly changing consumer trends in the Chinese market in terms of many segments such as targeted audience and consumer levels for providing solutions to consumers' needs of "beauty of health". For instance, Aveeno debuted Soothing Relief Oat Gel Water at the Expo designed for the babies' delicate skin during the summer for soothing and moisturizing and Listerine launched a mouthwash especially developed for smokers. Supported by innovation, Johnson & Johnson consumer products inherit strong scientific genes and provide a full range of health solutions for consumers in addition to niche needs. Taking Listerine as an example, Wang Yi told Qeyes: "Johnson & Johnson is committed to developing solutions that prevent, intercept and treat lung cancer to stop its progression and make the disease of the past. We are committed to advancing smoking cessation education and developing digital solutions through a partnership with the Chinese Association for Tobacco Control (CATC) that promotes smoking cessation education. To advance early detection and diagnosis, we have established a multi-year collaboration with China-based Benchmark Medical (AnchorDx Medical). The collaboration aims to develop non-invasive molecular biomarkers to differentiate lung modules of malignant and benign. The goal is to identify patients in the latent stage of lung cancer and to treat the disease before it progresses. Now, at the forefront, our oral care launched a mouthwash developed specifically for smokers." This is the biggest core competency that sets Johnson & Johnson consumer products apart from other brands." Therefore, the beauty of health is an inseparable part of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products. Wang Yi emphasized: "In the future, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products will firmly use its technology and products, distinctive brand features to meet consumer needs in a more comprehensive and multi-dimensional way." Accelerating Brand's Construction There is no doubt that the consumer recognition of Johnson & Johnson consumer brands comes from the huge and strong scientific research strength supported by Johnson & Johnson Group. But on the other hand, Wang Yi admits that the brand volume of Johnson & Johnson consumer products in the whole group is not outstanding at present. According to Johnson & Johnson's financial report in 2020, the company's global revenue in 2020 reached $82.6 billion (about 526 billion yuan), of which, the consumer goods segment revenue reached $14.1 billion (about 89.8 billion yuan), accounting for about 17 percent. Under the premise of good product quality, branding is indispensable to strengthen the connection between brands and consumers and increase market share. Therefore, brand building is likewise one of the key points Wang Yi is most interested in capturing after taking the helm of Johnson & Johnson China Consumer Products. "Branding is more than simple marketing. The core of the brand building is to gain consumers' recognition and preference. The core of the brand building is to gain consumers' recognition and preference. We should dig deeper into consumers' needs, convey product and brand concepts in the process of communication, and gain recognition by resonating with consumers, rather than attracting consumers by marketing means such as promotion and advertising alone." Wang Yi stressed. Therefore, in the future, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products will further focus on the brand building under the advantage of ensuring product power, combining technology, health and beauty to provide consumers with more deep value. Online Leads Development of Consumer Products The epidemic has led to a change in the criteria of consumers to choose the product, as well as an unprecedented change in consumer channels. In Wang Yi's view, going online is the choice of Chinese consumers. "Over the past five years Johnson & Johnson's consumer goods online business has boomed and our entire online presence today is seven times larger than it was five years ago." Wang Yi said that today's online business has long been less focused on just the Taobao or Jingdong platform as it was a few years ago, but has been entered through new social platforms such as Kwai and TikTok to help consumers more easily learn about products and lead them through the entire consumption process. "Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products has always focused most on consumer needs. Therefore,  my core philosophy since coming to Johnson & Johnson is that building a professional team to understand and meet consumers' needs and proactively forming a deeper connection with them." Wang Yi said, "In the future, the development of Johnson & Johnson's consumer products online will continue to lead the development of the entire business." With this as a principle, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products led by Dr.Ci:Labo and guide by its brands such as Neutrogena, Listerine, and Aveeno, has made a "replica" layout on TikTok, Kwai, and Pin Duo Duo. It also became the first batch of foreign companies to layout content e-commerce in this year. This year, Wang Yi and Johnson & Johnson China consumer products have experienced two important campaigns on June 18th and November 11st and the company has made a great performance in both campaigns. Wang Yi revealed that the overall business of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products online this year has grown by nearly 45% compared to last year, which will be further expanded and the ratio of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products online to offline will reach 5:5 next year. Online is an important engine to accelerate the growth of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products. But at the same time, the offline segment is still the foundation for Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products' well-being. "It is an indisputable fact that consumers' offline shopping habits have fundamentally changed after the pandemic." When talking about Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products' offline channel, Wang Yi confessed, "But the development of Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products online has not come at the cost of offline shrinking." Wang Yi said that consumers today seek a convenient and diversified shopping experience. Thus Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products should put how to use more new ways to serve consumers as a key consideration." For example, many offline partners and customers of Johnson & Johnson have developed their offline business through E Le Ma and Meituan. This year, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products is also working on a deep digital partnership with Watson's." In the future, Johnson & Johnson will help offline development by creating differentiated categories, brands, services, and user experiences. It will combine digital technology to facilitate the integration of online and offline further pulling in the relationship between brands and consumers to better meet consumer needs. China is a pioneer in the digitalization of Johnson & Johnson consumer products When it comes to the integration of online and offline development, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products is a pioneer in the field of digitalization. Wang Yi, who graduated from Sun Yat-sen University in 2001 with a degree in mathematics, has spent nearly 20 years in the consumer products industry and has honed a strong mindset of digital innovation. "It is undeniable that the development of the entire digital ecology is far ahead of the world in the current environment in China." That's why Wang Yi likens China's digital innovation to a "lighthouse". Johnson & Johnson's digital business model for consumer goods in China provides a standard and model for the entire business of consumer products. "From China to the Asia Pacific to the rest of the world, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products has made 'digital first' as its core philosophy. Next year, Johnson & Johnson will continue to develop the digital transformation of the entire consumer products business." Wang Yi introduced that Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products has established a virtuous cycle model centered on consumer needs and empowered business development with data as the core by applying a digital platform. With this model, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products can better satisfy consumers with personalized products. In the case of Listerine, for instance, consumer demand for products and services has evolved from large and original in the past to a more segmented and higher quality direction. Johnson & Johnson consumer products customized products reversely relied on the advantages of big data insights and small sample research capabilities for consumer insights. The company cooperated with Tmall Innovation Center in 2018 to accurately control the real oral care needs of Chinese consumers and quickly develop the world's first customized mouthwash for Chinese female consumer groups - "Sakura & Peach Zest". The company also released the first mouthwash Huanlang Mouthwash, especially for smokers. All of this success is created by Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products' effort. "The Chinese market has always been the most important market for Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products globally. In the future, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products will bring more innovative technologies and products to China with consumers as the core, digitalization as the bridge, and innovation as the grip. It will also promote China's local innovative technology achievements to the world." Wang Yi said firmly.

Chinese law requires that the minimum sales unit of cosmetics should be marked a label. Imported cosmetics can apply Chinese labels directly or be affixed with Chinese labels. The content of Chinese labels affixed with imported cosmetics should be consistent with the original label content.

INISO and You Zan New Retail have entered into a partnership. MINISO seeks to accelerate operations on private traffic with the help of You Zan's private traffic tools and powerful social supply chain. It is reported on Dec. 22, 2021, that MINISO, a Chinese low-cost retailer and variety store chain that specializes in household and consumer goods for Generation Z, announced that it has joined hands with You Zan New Retail to accelerate digital transformation a few days ago. MINISO seeks to accelerate operations on private traffic with the help of You Zan's private traffic tools and powerful social supply chain. According to the information, MINISO is listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2020. As of Dec. 18, 2021, MINISO has opened a retail network of 5,000 stores worldwide entering 100 countries and regions including the United States, Canada, Russia, and Australia. The head of MINISO stated that we hope to attract new consumers by public traffic(Taobao, TikTok, Kwai, and so on) and make valued operation by private traffic to improve the LTV value of a single customer and meet the growing diversified needs from consumers,". The key to solving this demand is to extend online business. Through the cooperation with You Zan New Retail, MINISO will provide services to consumers with a more systematic private traffic structure." It is understood that You Zan has already connected with many traffic channels, such as WeChat, Wechat Channels, Weibo, Alipay, QQ, Xiaohongshu, TikTok, Ai Guang and so on, which can help MINOSO draw targeted audiences from the public traffic pool to the private traffic pool. You Zan also provides abundant digital tools and services to achieve customer retention and increase the rate of purchase and repurchase. Furthermore, You Zan New Retail also provides MINISO with an exclusive operation consulting service on private traffic for business merchants to help CCTF effectively activate closed-loop private traffic and create an omnichannel audience growth strategy. The data shows that MINISO achieved the number of new customers in the store as high as 80% within six months and the GMV of distribution and supply accounts for 30% of the overall store, which makes MINISO TOP 1 online GMV for merchants in the daily miscellaneous collection store category. The head of MINISO said that he expects to further in-depth cooperation with You Zan and will focus on the private traffic of e-commerce in the future.

On December 21, Beiersdorf announced on its official website that the company has acquired Chantecaille Beaute Inc. It is reported that the enterprise value of Chantecaille's business is approximately between 3.7 billion yuan and 4.3 billion yuan in accordance to its future development. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022. Founded in 1997 by Sylvie Chantecaille, Chantecaille offers innovative skin care, fragrance and cosmetic products based on botanical ingredients and combines effective formulations with a strong focus on sustainability and charity. Headquartered in New York, the company spread its business across the world and it is particularly popular in North America and Asia. In 2021, Chantecaille's global sales are expected to exceed 600 million yuan. Vincent Warnery, CEO of Beiersdorf, said that the acquisition of Chantecaille is a priority in the CARE+ strategy in company. This acquisition will strengthen the company's reputation and investment in the beauty industry and accelerate its growth in North America and Asia.