[Global Times reporter Yang Shasha Tu Lei] Editor's note: South Korean media recently reported that against the background of the continued recovery of South Korea-China relations, South Korea's beauty industry is re-regarding China as a key strategic position to promote the "second growth curve". On the eve of the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Informal Meeting, the Chinese and English versions of the Global Times and South Korea's national business daily jointly interviewed important enterprises in the fashion industry of China and South Korea, reviewing the development context of the fashion industry in China and South Korea in the past two decades, and cracking the code for the future development of the Chinese and Korean markets. After the interview, South Korea's national business daily reported on the 10th with the title "Korean brands can only get through the Chinese market through thorough localization", saying that at present, most Korean enterprises are in trouble in the Chinese market due to accelerated technological iteration and intensified competition. The way out for Korean enterprises to succeed in China lies in "thorough localization"-even to the extent that Chinese consumers don't realize that this is a Korean enterprise.

The cosmetics giant can¡¯t keep up with the ¡°Chinese speed¡±

In the past China's National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays, all parts of South Korea actively welcomed Chinese tourists. The South Korean government previously announced that from September 29th to June 30th next year, the visa-free entry policy will be tried out for Chinese group tourists (3 people or more). The retail and tourism industries are highly looking forward to this and actively planning related marketing activities.

In the crowd of people going to Korea, Li Jinshi, the head of Tmall International's Korea investment promotion, keeps a close eye on the consumption trends of Chinese consumers in Korea, tracks their note-taking strategies and "grass-planting" products on social platforms, trying to "salvage" Korean high-quality fashion brands that have just grown up in Korea and are not well recognized in China.

Data released recently by Tian's International showed that in the first three quarters of this year, more than 1,700 overseas brands opened their first stores in Tian's International, of which the number of new Korean brands in the second quarter grew by 110%, and in the third quarter the number of new brands from South Korea grew the fastest.

Korean fashion brands have not always been "top students" in China. Taking South Korean cosmetics as an example, relevant statistics show that in 2021, South Korea's cosmetics exports to China accounted for more than 50%. Starting from 2022, South Korea's proportion of cosmetics exports to China will continue to decline. According to the latest report of the Korea Food and Drug Safety Agency, the proportion of South Korean cosmetics exports to China fell below 20% for the first time in the first half of 2025.

Shi Fenglei, the head of Tmall International's beauty and personal care industry, has experienced the changes of Korean cosmetics in the Chinese market relatively completely. Before 2017, Korean cosmetics brands mainly entered the Chinese market through overseas purchasing agents, and cosmetics owned by South Korea's Aijing and Amore were very popular in the Chinese market at that time; From 2017 to 2022, Korean cosmetics brands began to attach importance to localized operations in China. During this period, the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the rise of Chinese domestic cosmetics, slowed down the growth of Korean cosmetics. Korean cosmetics brands such as Laneige and Eddie House, which are well known to Chinese consumers, have generally begun to readjust their strategies in China.

Why did Korean cosmetics fall behind in the China market? South Korea's Newsband News Agency recently reported that after the COVID-19 epidemic and South Korea's deployment of the "THAAD" anti-missile system, China boycotted the demand for Korean cosmetics in the China market has fallen into a long-term downturn. In addition, changes in consumption trends in China also pose new challenges to Korean cosmetics companies.

Why can China brands rise rapidly? A core element, Shi Fenglei said, is "China speed"-it takes up to half a year for a product to go from research and development, production, and final sale to consumers. This is due to China's strong supply chain, and China companies innovate and iterate quickly on product updates. For example, he said that China companies are planning segmented categories and iterating product updates very quickly. After a product is successful this year, they will immediately plan their product lines for next year and the year after. With their in-depth understanding of local consumers 'needs and flexible and efficient supply chain response capabilities, China's local brands have shown strong vitality in market competition and become powerful "opponents" of overseas brands. In fact, not only are Korean brands adapting to new changes in the China market, but European and American cosmetics giants are also facing a "competition" with China's domestic brands.

According to the "Country goods and cosmetics consumption trends insight report" released by the company's data, the share of the domestic goods and cosmetics market in 2024 will reach 55.2%, up 2.9 percentage points from the same year.

Korean Cosmetics for more than 4500 customers worldwide including OLEYA Group, Yassirandy, Jonsun. In 2004, Cosmetics entered China. General Manager of Cosmetics (China) Cosmetics Co., Ltd. in the English version reporter and Korean Daily Economic News reporter in the "Global Times" in a joint interview recalled that in 2004, when entering the Chinese market, Chinese cosmetics brands have Zhengming, Bao, Color Zone, Nature Hall, Perlay, etc. At the time, China's market share was largely occupied by foreign brands, local brands mainly concentrated on low-cost channels, and more in four-fifth-line cities active. To this day, some Chinese brands have been out of the market, some foreign-funded enterprises acquired, there is

"We have long predicted that China's cosmetics market will grow rapidly!" Li Xiangren believes that from the early dominance of international brands to the current competition between domestic brands and international brands, China has not only become one of the world's largest beauty consumer markets, but also an innovative market that is rapidly evolving online as the center.

Catch-up: Accelerate the pace of returning to the China market

In the past two or three years, Korean cosmetic brands have entered a recovery trend in China.Statistics from China¡¯s Pharmaceutical Healthcare Import and Export Association show that China¡¯s amount of cosmetics imported from Korea has been declining for three consecutive years, but has grown by 4.9% in the first half of 2025.

South Korea's "Asia Daily" reported that with the change of regime in South Korea and expectations for improving relations between South Korea and China heating up, the South Korean K-Beauty industry has accelerated its once stalled China market strategy. Major cosmetics companies such as Amore Pacific, LG Life Health, and South Korea Koma have successively completed structural adjustments, accumulating strength for the "second growth curve" through measures such as rectifying distribution channels, large-scale investment and strengthening global platform cooperation.

AmorePacific, a leading Korean beauty company, recently decided to make every effort to increase the operating rate of its once-stagnant Shanghai factory. This move is regarded as a strategic move by the company to judge that the recovery of the China market is imminent and adjust its localized production system to seize market opportunities. In addition, the group's latest financial report shows that sales in Greater China increased by 23% year-on-year in the second quarter, becoming an important engine for the group's performance growth.

In the face of the rise of China's indigenous makeup brands, the relevant head of the Pacific China region of Yosemite said that China's makeup has significant advantages in terms of design ideas, brand worldview and indigenous cultural elements, and is rapidly occupying the market of young consumer groups.

"We have indeed seen in recent years that Korean cosmetics brands have entered a critical stage of repositioning the China market." Shi Fenglei told reporters that with the help of strong Korean makeup technology research and development capabilities, some Korean makeup brands have accelerated the pace of renewal and iteration in China. However, Korean cosmetics have previously been deeply rooted in the hearts of the China market, and still continue to implant the influence of Korean dramas as idols and are still highly attractive to China consumers. Cosmes grasps one point and believes that the core thing in the China market is "localization." Li Xiangren emphasized that China's beauty e-commerce market has developed earlier and faster than South Korea. It is necessary to follow this trend, develop more efficient and rapidly iterative products, and seize market opportunities.

Similarly, in a joint interview with South Korea¡¯s Daily Economic News and the Global Times, Liu Zhengzhong, a Chinese legal representative, listed the localization strategy as the primary factor for its success in establishing its foothold in the Chinese market. Liu Zhengzhong said: ¡°In the early days of China, more than 80% of the raw materials were purchased from overseas, and now more than 80% of the raw materials have been delivered locally. By leveraging the advantages of different regions, we were able to purchase high-quality raw materials, thereby improving the sense of product.¡±

In an interview, Li Jinshi, head of investment promotion at Tmall International in South Korea, said that if you want to enter the Tmall International platform and open a store, you have to go through at least three steps of brand screening mechanism: First, comprehensively evaluate whether the tone and design sense of a Korean brand are in line with China consumers."A simple way is to observe the brand's traffic on social platforms. Based on the brand's fan base in South Korea and overseas, the brand's popularity can be basically judged., have a preliminary understanding of whether the introduction to the China market will be 'planted' by the target consumer groups." Li Jinshi introduced. Secondly, look at the overall performance of the brand in South Korea, including ranking on classified vertical platforms, user evaluations and repurchase rates. Third, conduct an in-depth examination of the brand's long-term planning and investment plan for the China market.

With regard to the last point, Li has felt that the market for fashion brands is updating at a very fast pace, and if we are not fully prepared for the Chinese market, we will also carefully consider the introduction.

Collaboration: Make C-Beauty globally recognized

In June this year, Netflix's popular animated film, K-POP: The Witch Hunt, is a story focused on the Korean women's and men's group confrontation. The Asian Daily that after the release, K-POP: The Witch Hunt reached the number of views in 10 weeks, becoming the most popular original animated film in the history of the K-POP, breaking the recordined before another original comedy series, "Fish Game", sparked a strong reaction among overseas fans.

When the reporter mentioned the animation, Lee Kingsworth of South Korea told reporters that there are a lot of IP surrounding fashion products around the Korean homeland "we are now also tracking these IP products, because the anime's fan base is mostly after 00 or after 10".

Li Keqiang discovered that under the influence of social media, the Z generation (a generation born between 1995 and 2009) of Chinese and Korean youth consumption convergence, for fashion requirements, more to reflect personality, pursue original and highly emotional value products.

According to our observation, a fashion product as long as the scale in the Korean market is formed, one or two years will definitely become a popular trend in the European and American or Chinese markets. "- Li Qingzhou further said, this trend can be said to be the mutual exchange and influence between the young people in China and Korea. she said that in the next 3 to 5 years, the corean basic skin care and makeup will continue to be the mainstream product category exported to the Chinese market, relying on the broad prospects of the Chinese market, many Korean brands gradually improve the supply chain layout, their research and development capabilities and workforce are constantly improving.

"Instead of emphasizing widening the gap, we pay more attention to'common growth '." Li Xiangren said in an interview with Chinese and Korean journalists that the Chinese market is undoubtedly of extremely important significance for Cosmex. Sales in China account for approximately 30% of the group's total sales. In terms of production, China's annual output reaches 1.6 billion pieces, accounting for half of the group's total global output. "We hope to join hands with related companies to make C-Beauty (China Beauty) globally recognized and truly become the mainstream force in the world beauty market".