On February 28, 2025, under the dazzling lights of Shanghai’s Bund, a grand celebration focused on the future of China’s beauty industry came to a close. Co-hosted by Forbes China and Magnolia Evergreen Group, the “2025 Forbes China Beauty Industry Excellence Brand Awards Ceremony” attracted over a thousand industry leaders, corporate representatives, and investors.
The event not only unveiled more than a hundred awards across six major categories but also served as a window into the transformation of China’s beauty industry—a trillion-yuan market undergoing a profound shift from sheer scale expansion to value reshaping under the dual forces of rational consumer behavior and technological innovation.
According to a global report by Deloitte, China’s beauty market is expected to exceed 1.5 trillion yuan by 2025, nearly tripling its size compared to 2020. This leap is driven by both technological advancements and generational shifts in consumption.
Sun Huaiqing, Chairman of Marubi Biotechnology, pointed out that artificial intelligence is propelling the digital transformation of medical aesthetics institutions by enhancing service precision through biological indicator analysis and personalized program design. Meanwhile, technologies such as AR try-on and VR beauty cabins have turned the concept of “a thousand faces for a thousand people” into a quantifiable service standard.
Ding Jiachuan, Global Partner at Boston Consulting Group, added that Generation Z’s pursuit of personalized experiences is forcing brands to shift from mass production to data-driven customization, which spurred significant growth in financing in the relevant sectors in 2024.
Market structures are also evolving. The men’s beauty market is growing at an average rate of 25% per year, with categories like anti-aging and hair transplantation rapidly emerging; in third- and fourth-tier cities, the penetration rate of light medical aesthetics has reached 18%, with basic hydration injection projects priced between 500 and 800 yuan serving as an entry point.
Zhang Kun, Professor at Peking University HSBC Business School, believes that as consumers shift from conspicuous consumption to self-indulgence, the multiplicative effect of both the emotional and functional value of products creates an opportunity for domestic brands to break through the barriers posed by international giants.
The ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) concept is receiving increasing attention. SETO YOSHIO, General Manager for China at FineToday, cited Shiseido as an example to illustrate a full lifecycle management model that extends from raw material procurement to product recycling.
Stricter regulatory oversight is also accelerating industry compliance. The 2024 crackdown on illegal medical aesthetics institutions has made ingredient traceability technology a “ticket of entry” for high-end brands. Many attendees agreed that establishing a transparent and traceable supply chain is evolving from a compliance cost into a core competitive advantage.
Offline experience spaces are undergoing transformation as well. DR.JINGBS, Chairman of DR.JINGBS Group, explained that their “Technology and Aesthetics Lifestyle Center,” which integrates aromatherapy and post-procedure recovery pods, has significantly enhanced service premiums; Guan Xinran, Head of Beauty Care at Douyin E-commerce, noted that the synergy between online content ecosystems and offline experiences is tightening, with short video platforms becoming a crucial channel for driving foot traffic.
Meanwhile, Xu Yingli, Chairman of Banfuren Group, stated that under global cost pressures, technological collaboration and innovative business models are critical, and domestic companies are using digital tools to build a closed-loop system from consumer insights to product development.
Wang Hanshen, Founder of Magnolia Evergreen Group, remarked in his speech that China’s beauty industry is entering a new cycle where technological rationality and humanistic warmth are equally important, and that a “people-oriented” philosophy will leave an Eastern mark on the global beauty industry. Since its establishment in 2016, the group’s operations have spanned medical aesthetics chains, health management, and the integration of global educational resources, with its “elite membership management system” serving over 400,000 families worldwide.
Forbes China’s beauty industry representative, Guo Junyi, noted that the rise of new consumer segments, innovations in consumer engagement, and diversified market demands are reshaping the industry ecosystem and opening up vast opportunities for innovative companies.
The event, which brought together listed companies such as PROYA and Bloomage Biotechnology along with startups in regenerative medicine, reflected the trend of China’s beauty industry moving from isolated breakthroughs to systemic reconstruction. As biotechnology drives personalized skincare into the genetic realm and AI diagnostic devices gradually enter county-level beauty salons, a new era driven by technology is quietly emerging.