08.12.2025 / The EU SME Centre and APACCCEEC Held a Webinar on Exporting Cosmetics to China
On November 26, 2025, starting at 10.00 AM (Sofia time), a webinar “Exporting Cosmetics to China: Challenges and Opportunities” was held via Zoom. The event was jointly organized by APACCCEEC and the EU SME Centre, upon APACCCEEC’s proposal.
The webinar covered essential matters which the cosmetics manufacturers need to take into consideration when accessing the Chinese market. The speakers introduced topics relating to the characteristics of the Chinese cosmetics market, examples of market entry by European companies, the regulatory requirements in the area of cosmetics, as well as the protection of intellectual property rights.
The history and development of the Chinese cosmetics market, the market entry opportunities, the underlying legal framework and the regulatory requirements for registration and notification of cosmetic products in China were summarized by Ms. María Galán Lozano, Regulatory Affairs Specialist, 2 Open Beauty. Ms. Lozano is a consultant and lecturer, as well as an expert with experience of over 20 years in innovation and compliance for beauty products.
In her lecture about the Chinese market, Ms. María Galán Lozano summed up a variety of trends, including the features of Chinese aesthetics and the heritage of preceding historical periods. She brought up some milestones in the development of the market, noting that in 2011 China’s cosmetics retail sales exceeded RMB 100 billion for the first time. In 2024, the value of the market stands at approximately RMB 1.07 trillion, which represents a YoY growth rate of 2.8%. According to her, part of the Chinese brands successfully blends Eastern aesthetics and a modern storytelling. She took note of Chinese investment in R&D and touched upon the role of new technologies and that of digital marketing, which values participation and the emotional connection with consumers. The social media, e-commerce and the internationalization were mentioned as market factors. The options for European companies to enter the market are through the implementation of the local regulatory requirements or through cross-border e-commerce (which enables selling without full CSAR registration). Ms. María Galán Lozano further outlined the profile of consumers, who are mostly concentrated in Tier 1 cities. The annual per-capita spending on cosmetics and personal care amounts to EUR 35. The main buyers of cosmetic products are women of less than 30 years of age. The topic of some unfair business practices was raised as well.
During the panel focusing on the regulatory framework of the cosmetic industry, Ms. María Galán Lozano provided an overview of the main competent institutions in charge of market regulation; relevant regulations and regulatory regimes introduced by them; matters relating to labelling, efficacy and safety; the topic of the regulation of cosmetic ingredients. In China, cosmetic products are classified as general and special-use cosmetics. The current regulation setting out the requirements for cosmetic products is the Cosmetic Supervision and Administration Regulation (CSAR). Ms. María Galán Lozano also referred to the regulatory role of the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA).
The panel which aimed to present success stories of European cosmetics manufacturers establishing a presence on the Chinese market featured presentations by Ms. Panka Shalamanova, Investor Relations Director, Bulgarian Rose Plc, and Ms. María Galán Lozano. Ms. Shalamanova summarized the steps of the Bulgarian company towards Chinese market entry since 2008, the year which marked the company’s first official export to China. She shared some challenges faced, including complex registration processes, changes in the regulatory framework and language barriers, as well as the strategies employed to deal with them. Ms. Shalamanova also referred to the company’s participation in APACCCEEC’s initiatives. On the other hand, Ms. María Galán Lozano provided both successful and unsuccessful examples of foreign companies’ entry into the Chinese market, including the acquisition of the Chinese brand Mininurse by L’Oréal Group and Revlon’s experience in China.
Ms. Alessandra Chies, China IPR Expert at the China IP SME Helpdesk, which covers mainland China and some other regions, presented the topic of IPR protection. Ms. Alessandra Chies outlined the functions of the helpdesk, which is a European Union project, including the opportunity to submit queries to the helpdesk. In her presentation, she summarized the routes for registering a trademark in China and provided useful tips. Ms. Chies outlined two major routes – an international one (registration in many countries, among which China) and a national one (registration only in China). According to her, the early filing for trademark registration in China is crucial. She further raised a number of important aspects, including the registration steps, the validity term of trademarks, the Nice Classification and the transliteration of names in Chinese.
The audience was provided with the opportunity to ask various questions during the webinar. The attendees were interested in topics connected with the availability of a regulatory framework governing organic products, the cosmetic ingredients, and the total cost of cosmetic product registration in China, among others.
Over 80 guests, speakers and organisers joined the webinar. The event was moderated by Mr. Davide Orlandi, EU Partnerships Manager at the EU SME Centre. Participants in the event from APACCCEEC were Iva Venkova and Zahari Zahariev, experts.
In September 2025, APACCCEEC and the EU SME Centre signed a MoU, based on which both sides will be able to cooperate with a view to achieving greater value added of their activities. The current webinar is the first joint event of both organisations.
