An increasing number of Chinese cosmetics companies are opening subsidiaries and manufacturing facilities in South Korea in hopes that their Korean-made beauty products would strongly appeal to consumers at their homeland, many of whom are seeking Korean-made or Korean brands’ cosmetics as upmarket beauty items.

According to multiple sources from the cosmetics industry on Thursday, China’s New Life Group is planning to market functional skincare items of Neobeau brand launched by its Korean subsidiary Bio Planet in China. New Life Group is a cosmetics and health supplement manufacturer, with about 3.8 trillion won ($3.1 billion) in annual sales, and set up Bio Planet in Korea in September.

An unnamed official from Bio Planet said all Neobeau beauty products are manufactured by a Korean original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and are sold with a Made in Korea tag. The company plans to export its products to China after building brand awareness in Korea, the official added.

New Life Group has long-term plans to set up a cosmetics research center in Korea to develop and self-manufacture Bio Planet products without having to depend on other OEMs. As part of efforts, New Life Group in November decided to invest 50 billion won to build a cosmetics manufacturing facility in an industry-specialized complex in North Gyeongsang.

New Life Group isn’t alone. Other Chinese cosmetics companies are opening exclusive stores in the heart of Myeongdong, central Seoul.

China’s Quanjian Group is expected to open its first road shop brand OMM in Seoul’s shopping mecca Myeongdong next month. The cosmetics manufacturer raises about 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) in sales in China based on skincare products made of natural ingredients and other health supplements. It established its Korean subsidiary in July and also signed a 300 million yuan production and supply deal with Korea’s leading cosmetics OEM Kolmar Co. in November last year.

Proya Cosmetics Co., China’s fifth-largest cosmetics manufacturer with 800 billion won in annual sales, has also established a Korean subsidiary Hapsode with an aim to launch a new local brand. Proya has put Korean actor Song Joong-ki known to have many Chinese fans as its promotion model to enhance its Korean brand identity.

Industry observers note that Chinese cosmetics manufacturers are aggressively entering the Korean market to build a luxury image before targeting consumers back in their homeland China, as Korean beauty products are hugely popular among Chinese as premium cosmetics.

Meanwhile, according to beauty and personal care market researcher Euromonitor International, China is the world’s second largest cosmetics market after the United States with annual sales reaching 204.9 billion yuan as of 2015.

By Park Eun-jin

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]