Korea Regains 2nd Place in Chinese Imported Cosmetics Market After 4 Years

Sharp Decline in Japanese Imports Due to 'Contaminated Water' Issue
Market Recovery Trend After Losing Ground Since THAAD Incident

Korean cosmetics have reclaimed the 2nd place position in the Chinese import market after four years. This comes as imports of Japanese products sharply declined due to safety concerns arising from the issue of nuclear wastewater discharge.

On the 26th, Chinese economic media Caijing Daily cited statistics from the local General Administration of Customs, reporting that the import value of Korean cosmetics from January to August this year reached 17.598 billion yuan (approximately 3.2635 trillion KRW). This ranks 2nd in China's imported cosmetics market, following France (18.92 billion yuan). It is the first time in over four years since 2019 that Korea has reclaimed the 2nd place position.

Among the three countries, Korean cosmetics imports, which held the 1st place until 2018, were overtaken by Japan in 2019, and from 2020 onwards, the gap with France widened, leaving Korea in 3rd place for three consecutive years until 2022. In particular, last year's annual import value was only 17.15 billion yuan, significantly trailing behind Japan and France, both of which surpassed 30 billion yuan that same year.

The Chinese imported cosmetics market has long been a three-way competition among Korea, France, and Japan. The most remarkable growth was seen in Japan. Japanese cosmetics brands rapidly expanded their presence in the Chinese market, capitalizing on the spread of the Hallyu ban following the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in Korea. Starting in 2019 and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic period (2020?2022), Japan overtook France to maintain the top market position. Japan peaked in 2021 by exporting cosmetics worth 32.273 billion yuan to China. Notably, Shiseido, a popular brand, saw its sales proportion in China (24.2%) surpass that in its home country (22.3%) last year. Caijing Daily explained, "Japan took some of the market share lost by Korea in China's cosmetics imports," adding, "Since all are Asian products, the transition was easy and more readily accepted."

However, as the issue of Japan's nuclear wastewater discharge gradually surfaced, resistance and safety concerns have led to a narrowing of export routes to China this year. From January to August this year, Japan's import value to China was 9.299 billion yuan, shrinking to half compared to the same period last year (18.911 billion yuan).

Nonetheless, Caijing Daily expects Korean products to continue exerting influence in the Chinese market, though France is predicted to hold the top spot. Durey, Senior Asia-Pacific Beauty Analyst at market research firm Mintel, analyzed that "the main popularity factors of Korean cosmetics are mid-to-low price levels, diverse styles, and rapid new product launches." Wang Jue, Global Partner at beauty think tank BeautyStreams, diagnosed the decline of Korean cosmetics compared to their heyday as due to "a drop in quality reputation, lack of price competitiveness, and improvements in quality of other foreign and domestic brands."

Meanwhile, as of last year, the size of China's cosmetics market reached 531.8 billion yuan. According to the Huajing Industry Research Institute, it is expected to grow to 728.8 billion yuan by 2027. From 2015 to 2021, China's cosmetics market recorded a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.3%, more than four times higher than the global average of 2.7%, the US at 2.0%, and Japan at 2.8%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.