China News Service, Hangzhou, August 11 (Reporter Huang Hui) A few days ago, "a medical and beauty company in Hangzhou was fined more than 88 million for tax evasion" on Weibo hot search.

The administrative penalty has also triggered a heated discussion among the public. How profitable is the medical and aesthetic industry?

  Relevant data show that there are 82,300 medical and cosmetic plastic-related companies in China.

In the past 10 years, the number of registered companies related to medical and cosmetic surgery has increased year by year: 8,644 new companies will be added in 2019, a year-on-year increase of 6.72%; 8,949 new companies will be added in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 3.53%; 29,700 new companies will be added in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 231.66% .

How much money does medical beauty make?

  According to the "Credit China" website, recently, Hangzhou Guming Culture and Art Planning Co., Ltd. added an administrative penalty.

The reasons for the punishment show that from January 2017 to November 2021, Qianhe Medical Beauty Clinic, a branch of the company, provided customers with medical beauty project services, used personal bank accounts to collect service fees and concealed income exceeding 4.755 billion yuan, which was not included in the financial account.

During this period, the company generated about 28.7968 million yuan in interest income through hidden income in the account.

  According to the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 63 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Tax Collection, the Hangzhou Municipal Taxation Bureau characterized the company's hidden income and underpaid tax as tax evasion, and the underpaid corporate income tax was about 147 million yuan. A 60% fine of RMB 88.2727 million was imposed.

  A non-leading company in the medical beauty industry can hide over 4.7 billion yuan in revenue in less than 5 years. How profitable is the medical beauty industry?

  The reporter checked the operation of some listed medical beauty companies in 2021.

The financial report shows that the gross profit margin of Bloomage Bio, known as the "first share of hyaluronic acid", reached 78.07%, and sales expenses accounted for nearly half of the total operating income.

Amic is also one of the leaders in the field of hyaluronic acid. In 2021, Amic's gross profit margin will reach 93.7%, surpassing Kweichow Moutai's 91.54%.

  The huge profits and popularity of the medical beauty industry have also attracted many off-site companies to join.

In March 2021, Aoyuan Meigu acquired a 55% stake in Hangzhou Liantianmei Enterprise Management Co., Ltd., the first private medical beauty hospital in Zhejiang, for 697 million yuan in cash, officially entering the medical beauty track.

Who ignited the "fire" of the medical beauty industry?

  Concepts such as "appearance anxiety" and "appearance anxiety" have become extremely popular in recent years, frequently appearing on hot searches.

From the big eyes, high nose bridge, melon-seeded face in the past to today's A4 waist, comic legs, fairy ears... People's requirements for appearance are becoming more and more strict, and they have begun to expand to every part of the body.

  Under the anxiety of appearance, the economy of appearance is on the rise, and a large number of medical and beauty institutions slogan "graduation season, cosmetic surgery season". The hot topic has also been on the hot search list many times, and the medical beauty craze has spread among the graduates.

  There are also various medical beauty projects. In addition to plastic surgery and other surgical projects, non-surgical light medical beauty such as hyaluronic acid, Thermage, gold micro-needling, radio frequency lifting, photorejuvenation, hyaluronic acid filling and wrinkle removal, and Botox face-lifting needles are due to risks. Small, fast recovery, short time-consuming, more favored by consumers.

  Citizen Xixi (pseudonym) has been taking water and light injections regularly since 4 years ago.

"After all, at the age of 34, it is difficult to delay aging with daily skin care, and some 'immediate results' are needed."

  Sha Sha, who is a regular beauty doctor, also admitted that the medical beauty institutions she frequents regularly "upgrade" projects, such as "recombinant collagen rejuvenation kit" and "tightening and shining white water", which look beautiful and advanced.

  In fact, the risks of light medical beauty are underestimated by consumers. Light medical beauty is a packaged "micro-plastic surgery" to some extent. The trauma of the two is the same, and the risks are also the same.

  "Many new terms are just old wines in new bottles, but the vagueness and 'softening' of the names, the non-surgical and anti-aging characteristics of light medical beauty, make customers look at light medical beauty like consumption behavior rather than medical behavior." Zhejiang University Medicine Cheng Hanxing, an attending physician in the Medical Cosmetology Department of Hangzhou First People's Hospital affiliated to the hospital, said.

Is medical beauty a "good business"?

  In the medical beauty industry chain, the upstream is mainly manufacturers of pharmaceutical products, including pharmaceutical raw material suppliers; the midstream is service institutions, mainly including public hospitals, large chain hospitals, small and medium-sized private enterprises and small private clinics; downstream refers to offline beauty Hospitals, SPA clubs, hospitals and other diversion agencies, online search platforms, as well as online vertical medical beauty and big health platforms, these are the main customer acquisition platforms.

  Compared with the middle and lower reaches, upstream enterprises have become the most profitable part of the industry chain due to factors such as large investment in technology research and development and high requirements for precision instruments.

In the downstream, in order to acquire more customers, medical and aesthetic institutions have to invest a lot of money in marketing.

  Relevant data from the Hurun Research Institute shows that in the current medical beauty industry, 50% of the expenses are contributed to marketing channels, namely advertising fees.

The net profit margin of domestic medical and aesthetic institutions remains between 1% and 10%.

Compared with upstream companies, it is more difficult for medical and aesthetic institutions in the middle of the industry chain to make profits, and the high cost of acquiring customers makes it difficult for many medical and aesthetic institutions to break even financially.

  Due to the gradual increase in marketing expenses, medical beauty institutions have to share the investment that could be used for doctor training and efficient management, which also makes the water in the medical beauty industry more and more muddy.

A large number of unqualified institutions and clinics are scattered in the medical beauty market, and it is not uncommon for people to pursue beauty and cause tragedies.

  On October 25, 2021, the website of the State Administration for Market Regulation announced typical cases of anti-unfair competition law enforcement in the field of medical beauty in 2021, involving false promotion of doctor qualifications, medical institution qualifications and honors, false promotion of medical beauty product efficacy, service efficacy, etc. type of behavior.

  In June 2021, eight ministries and commissions jointly issued the "Notice on Further Strengthening the Comprehensive Supervision and Law Enforcement of Medical Aesthetics".

On August 27 of the same year, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued the "Guidelines for Law Enforcement of Medical Beauty Advertisements (Draft for Comment)" to solicit public opinions.

  An industry insider said that in order to promote compliance in the medical beauty market, we must first increase the supervision of regulatory agencies and promote the introduction of various supporting regulations. This has been continuously improved in my country in recent years.

In addition, the improvement of consumer compliance and safety awareness will also promote the compliance shift of the medical aesthetics market.

  The Consumer Protection Committee of Zhejiang Province has previously issued a reminder that consumers should choose a qualified formal institution, confirm whether the medical beauty institution has obtained the "Medical Institution Practicing License", and whether the attending doctor has the qualification of a practicing doctor; Information on the efficacy, validity period, precautions, potential risks and other information of beauty projects, do not blindly follow the trend, and sign a written contract with the merchant, specifying in detail the name of the medical beauty project, the number of services, price, beauty effect, and liability for breach of contract.

  "Regular institutions can ensure that the sources of drugs are legal, channels are formal, and doctors operate properly. They will give customers skin tests and sign informed consent before surgery. These are things that informal institutions cannot do." Cheng Hanxing said that even if complications occur, formal institutions can It can also provide timely and effective rescue measures to greatly reduce the risk.

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