Will things finally move in China? For so long, we have been waiting for a more flexible regulation that would facilitate exports to this country, we are counting on the fingers of one hand the new ingredients accepted by the authorities, we are desperate about registration deadlines and eventually, we skip it by going through the Internet… Thus, we could only fervently desire a removal of the main barriers and an unblocking of borders. Gerald Renner, from Cosmetics Europe, came to say it during the 2nd Cosmetic World Tour organized by the FEBEA on 11 and 12 October 2018: “That’s it, we’re there… almost there!”
It often requires a high degree of adaptability when dealing with Chinese regulations. And the same applies to speakers… “The title of my presentation was: the year of all possible changes…” Gerald Renner said at the outset. “It seems a little optimistic today. But if I say: nothing happened, it’s not quite true either. Officially, from a distance, nothing happened. But in the background, we still saw a lot of things evolve…”
A market as attractive as ever
Before getting to the heart of the matter, Gerald Renner gave a brief update on the business context.
China is now the third largest cosmetics market in the world, worth €41 billion in 2016, and expected to grow at an annual rate of around 10% until 2020.
Foreign brands are well established, with a market share of more than 60%, although it should be noted that they are more present in the “special cosmetics” and luxury segments than in the mass market, on which local brands are increasingly strong.
The market is huge but Europe’s exports are valued at only around €600 million. This is because many foreign brands have chosen to produce in China, if for no other reason than that …
