Covid Gives China's Beauty Brands Enhanced Allure
The country’s cosmetic makers are challenging foreign rivals, helped by patriotic buying and a shift to online commerce.
The face of Proya: Cai Xukun.
Photographer: VCG/Getty Images
China’s cosmetic brands may finally be ready to face down their foreign rivals, thanks to the Covid outbreak and a wave of patriotic buying. The rising popularity of domestic makeup products is an example of how the pandemic upheaval and geopolitical tensions are creating unexpected winners and losers.
Shares of Proya Cosmetics Co., Guangdong Marubi Biotechnology Co. and Shanghai Jahwa United Co. have soared this year, outpacing the gain in Shanghai’s benchmark index. Meanwhile, mid-range cosmetics makers such as Japan’s Shiseido Co. and South Korea’s Amorepacific Corp. — those most vulnerable to the rise of Chinese competition — have sunk by more than broad market indexes in their home countries.