High-end cosmetics with high profit margins are still dominated by foreign brands. Chinese companies have low level of scientific research, backward product technology, scientific formula research and development are still in the imitating stage, innovation strength is weak, R&D investment is small, raw material varieties are small, and quality is unstable.
"my country's imported cosmetics materials have reached more than 80%, and domestic cosmetics raw materials are at a disadvantage in terms of variety and quality." At the Xiangshan Science Conference on October 9-10, the theme of "Chemical Biomedical Engineering and Skin Health", A technical person in charge of a skin care company pointed out sharply.
He described an unspoken rule of the skin care industry: because Chinese people have low trust in Chinese cosmetics raw materials, some companies even export Chinese cosmetics raw materials to foreign countries and label the raw materials as "imported" to gain a competitive advantage.
The issue of raw materials is only a microcosm of the embarrassing situation of my country's cosmetics industry.
As the world's second largest consumer of cosmetics, China, in addition to contributing banknotes, appears to be insufficient in terms of industrial technical strength, and faces the dilemma of technological constraints.
"The consumption of cosmetics in China has exceeded trillions, but the brand ownership is still dominated by foreign-funded enterprises. Through continuous integration of multidisciplinary resources and advantages, countries such as Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea have achieved achievements in the basic research and application of the skin health industry and cross-research fields. Many breakthroughs have created tremendous economic benefits, social value and cultural influence." Academician Qian Xuhong of East China Normal University admitted that China’s cosmetics industry started late and the level of industrial development still lags behind that of developed countries. Therefore, there is an urgent need to promote domestic skin The field of health has formed a development pattern of simultaneous leapfrogging of scientific research and industry, integration of disciplines and innovation, and talent gathering.
my country is a major consumer of cosmetics, not a powerful country
The skin health industry is known as one of the "most resilient" new economic forces.
"China's cosmetics consumption accounts for 12% of the world's consumption, 4% higher than the average level." Academician Jin Yong of Tsinghua University introduced.
"The global cosmetics market has reached 514.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2019, and China's cosmetics consumption has shown a good momentum of steady growth, but the industry is also facing huge challenges." Qian Xuhong said.
"my country is a major consumer of cosmetics in the world, not a powerful country." Professor Huang Junhai from Shanghai Pharmaceutical Industry Research Institute analyzed that in the global market share, L'Oreal, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Estee Lauder and Shiseido accounted for about 52.4%, the top 20 companies in market size, foreign capital Enterprises accounted for about 80%, and local enterprises accounted for only about 20%.
"The skin health industry in my country has a short research history, weak basic research, disconnection between scientific research and industrial development needs, lagging research on efficacy evaluation systems and quality control technology systems, and low engineering technology levels. The product market is mixed, and high-end products are basically international Well-known companies have a monopoly.” said Xing Xinhui, a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering of Tsinghua University.
Huang Junhai analyzed the status quo and said: “High-end cosmetics with high profit margins are still based on foreign brands. Chinese enterprises have low scientific research level, product technology is backward, scientific formula research and development are still in the imitating stage, innovation strength is weak, R&D investment is small, and raw material varieties Less and unstable quality."
Basic research and cutting-edge technology are weak spots
The development of dermatology and biology continues to reveal the mechanisms of skin aging, lesions, regeneration and repair. These new discoveries provide a clearer scientific basis for the research and development of anti-aging, whitening and other functions of cosmetics, and become an important theoretical basis for the research and development of modern cosmetics. .
"Basic research on cosmetics should be started as soon as possible, such as skin aging mechanism and human aging model research, identification of Chinese herbal medicine ingredients, absorption and transmission mechanism of effective ingredients, etc." Jin Yong appealed.
Qian Xuhong also believes that the overall layout should be strengthened, production and research and development should be improved with advanced technology, rapid iteration, quality improvement, and cutting-edge basic scientific research related to skin health such as molecular mechanisms and molecular structure-activity relationships strengthened.
"At the same time, skin health has interdisciplinary attributes, involving chemistry, biology, materials science, medicine, art, and sociology. Some cutting-edge technologies have potential applications in the skin health industry, such as femtosecond laser internal and external engraving. Engraving three-dimensional micro-nano fluid control chip technology, micro-nano fluid control technology, etc."
"Bioengineering has the advantages of green, high efficiency and economy, and has great potential." Academician Zheng Yuguo of Zhejiang University of Technology believes that my country's bioengineering has not been deeply integrated with the skin health industry, and the engineering technology for the development of the skin health industry is far from the international level.
He pointed out that the combination of bioengineering technology and process system engineering can increase total production, reduce production costs, improve the quality and stability of cosmetics, and achieve effective control of the cosmetics production process; the skin health industry is connected with Internet technology and artificial intelligence technology. It can realize the rapid and efficient screening of functional active molecules; frontier bioengineering technologies such as efficacy analysis based on bionic simulation, intelligently regulated industrial production process, multi-parameter online intelligent monitoring process, gene chip technology, 3D skin cell model technology, etc. will develop rapidly. It is widely used in the research of the target point of the functional ingredients, the screening of the functional ingredients, and the development and preparation of tailor-made cosmetics.
"Bioengineering will promote the development of the skin health industry, through technological research and engineering innovation, to achieve industrial reforms and meet the needs of industrial development." Zheng Yuguo suggested establishing certification and evaluation standards for the application of new bioengineering technologies in the cosmetics industry to form a biological skin Big health industry.
Academician Chen Jian of Jiangnan University believes that the raw materials of biosynthetic cosmetics have the advantages of natural properties, good safety, and unique efficacy, which are the future development direction.
He suggested that in the future, biological cosmetics materials with natural properties, strong safety, and diversified efficacy will enter the market in large numbers, and the research and formulation of relevant regulations and standards should be accelerated to ensure the transformation and upgrading of the industry.
He pointed out that synthetic biotechnology can reconstruct the metabolic pathways of bio-cosmetics raw materials in microorganisms, so as to realize its high-efficiency industrial-scale synthesis. “The most important bio-cosmetics raw materials on the market can be manufactured through biosynthesis or combination. Only scientific research layout and platform construction can seize the international commanding heights."
The combination of production, education and research and interdisciplinary cooperation are imminent
At this Xiangshan Conference, business representatives also expressed their strong desire for technology research and development.
"The basic research of cosmetics in my country is weak, and enterprises are even more lacking in strength. Now medical colleges and scientific research institutions lack faculty input in the field of cosmetics (skin) molecular biology and cooperation with enterprises in production, education and research. Cosmetics is no longer a small industry and requires technology. The industry is more concerned and organizes and leads industry-university-research cooperation, which in turn stimulates internal research and development of the enterprise.” said Jiang Ligang, Chief R&D Officer of Proya Cosmetics Co., Ltd.
"Cosmetics companies in developed countries have more keen insights into market trends and customer needs, and have formed a good closed loop of cutting-edge basic research, product development, product marketing, and finally feeding back basic research. However, domestic companies have a low degree of globalization. Most of the extracts are exported through primary processing, and it is difficult to build a complete industrial chain." Jia Qingwen, head of Shandong Freda Pharmaceutical Group, believes that my country should strengthen the interdisciplinary application of various chemical, biomedical technologies in cosmetics.
Jiang Ligang hopes that several key laboratories related to cosmetics can be established in universities, medical schools, and research institutions (institutes) to solve the key issues of safety and efficacy evaluation for the industry, and academicians and experts will lead the industry-university-research cooperation.
Jin Yong also suggested that an interdisciplinary expert committee should be established, and a series of academic conferences should be held to discuss the frontiers, trends, and domestic development trends of the field in order to provide assistance for industrial development.
At the same time, it promotes new ideas, new understandings, new technologies, and new trends, and organizes a special expert group according to industry needs to go deep into the enterprise to answer questions.
"We are still at the low end of the international cosmetics industry chain, and the high-tech characteristics of the skin health industry have not yet been reflected. What we can do now is to improve our scientific and technological standards and attach importance to disciplines and professionals who integrate chemical biomedical engineering and skin health. Cultivate, strengthen school-enterprise cooperation, and keep everyone together for warmth." Qian Xuhong said.
In addition to strengthening integration, in the context of my country's high-end brands and raw material suppliers' low market share, how to achieve "curving overtaking"?
Experts at the meeting pointed out that taking the road of nationality and difference is a new choice, such as making full use of China's unique and rich green plant resources; integrating Chinese culture, art, color and life aesthetics into the industrial design of skin health products; Pay attention to the penetration of Chinese medicine into cosmetics, and continue to promote the inheritance and innovation of the cosmetics industry and Chinese herbal medicine culture.
The blessing of science and technology and playing the "Chinese characteristic brand" may be a breakthrough for the development of my country's cosmetics industry.
Our reporter Chen Lei