Global Cosmetics: China Cosmetics Survey – Resilient but Polarized Demand; Premium and Derma Positive

Research evidence excerpt

Global Cosmetics: China Cosmetics Survey – Resilient but Polarized Demand; Premium and Derma Positive

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09 Jul 2026 05:45:15 ET │ 47 pages

Global Cosmetics

China Cosmetics Survey – Resilient but Polarized Demand; Premium

and Derma Positive

Tiffany Feng AC

CITI'S TAKE +852-2501-2759

Our recent China cosmetics survey reveals resilient industry demand, yet tiffany.feng@citi.com

consumption is becoming polarized. High-spending consumers in top-tier AC Cedric Besnardcities are trading up, while younger and lower-tier city consumers exhibit

weaker sentiment and greater price sensitivity. The competitive landscape +33-1-7075-5276

is evolving, with foreign brands using discounts to expand their customer cedric.besnard@citi.com

base and leading domestic brands moving upmarket. We find consumers AC Filippo Falorni, CFA

are becoming more sophisticated, prioritizing core ingredients over brand +1-212-816-3743reputation. This leads to higher brand-switching but also indicates

opportunities for companies that can deliver product innovation. We also filippo.falorni@citi.com

ACsee strong potential in the functional skincare segment. Overall, we see that Paul Hwang

our findings are positive for premium and derma positioned players. Among +82-2-3705-0748

our Buy-rated stocks, the pecking order in China cosmetics is Mao Geping > paul1.hwang@citi.comGiant > Proya. In Citi’s global cosmetics space, we favor Amorepacific,

Beiersdorf, EL, Kolmar, L’Oreal and PG. Hiroki Watanabe

+81-3-6776-8296

Resilient Demand Marked by Polarization — We find China's beauty consumption hiroki.watanabe@citi.com

is growing, with 48% of consumers increasing their spending in the past 12 months.

This growth is led by Tier 1 cities and older consumers. We note consumption is Xiaopo Wei, CFA