After a decade poaching K-beauty talent, China now has Korea's cosmetics market in its sights
After years of recruiting K-beauty talent and absorbing Korean know-how, Chinese cosmetics brands are rapidly expanding in Korea and challenging the industry’s edge.
Products of Chinese cosmetics brand Flower Knows is displayed at a Chicor branch in Hongdae of western Seoul on June 10.NOH YU-RIM
When Korean cosmetics brands including Sulwhasoo and The Whoo were enjoying immense popularity in China in 2015, a researcher at a major Korean cosmetics company received a job offer that was hard to refuse.
A Chinese cosmetics company offered to double the researcher's salary, along with 5 million won ($3,280) to 6 million won in monthly rent support for a luxury apartment in Shanghai. The company even offered to provide a foreign-made car.
The researcher accepted the offer and moved to China. Within a year, more than 20 former colleagues, including a laboratory director, research and development staff and marketing team members, followed.
"Chinese companies quickly learned key technologies and know-how by recruiting the entire team that had the knowledge they wanted," the researcher said. "As a result, the quality of Chinese cosmetics reached a level similar to Korea's within 10 years. Once they acquired all the technology they needed, they dismissed employees even before their contracts expired."
Chinese cosmetics companies aggressively recruited Korean talent a decade ago, and are now emerging as a threat to K-beauty.
After absorbing key technologies, product formula details and marketing know-how behind K-beauty's success, they have thrived in China's vast domestic market. But now, they are using the local success as a springboard to target Korea.
Visitors look around booths set up by Chinese companies at 2025 InterCharm Korea, a cosmetics expo, held at Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on July 2, 2025.NEWS1
China's cosmetics exports reached $7.82 billion last year, up 9.2 percent from a year earlier, data from China's customs authority showed.
Their domestic brands now account for 57 percent of China's cosmetics market, which was once dominated by imported products.
What stands out is how rapidly Chinese cosmetics brands, known as C-beauty, are gaining ground even in Korea.
Korea imported $71.76 million worth of Chinese cosmetics last year, up 84 percent from the previous year, according to Korea Customs Service data.
Chinese cosmetics brand Flower Knows now has dedicated sales sections at retailers including Shinsegae's Chicor and the Musinsa Mega Store Seongsu in Seongdong District, eastern Seoul.
"Chinese firms recruited around 100 employees from Korean cosmetics companies during the 2010s and also actively hired talent from global companies such as L'Oréal and Estée Lauder," said another former employee of a Chinese cosmetics company, who requested anonymity. "China's aggressive talent acquisition strategy clearly accelerated the growth of its cosmetics industry."
A more pressing concern is that Chinese brands are turning to Korean original development manufacturing (ODM) companies for product development and production.
Of roughly 28,000 cosmetics companies in Korea, only about 10 have their own manufacturing plants or research facilities. The rest rely on ODM companies such as Cosmax and Kolmar Korea for research and development to manufacturing, making ODM firms the backbone of K-beauty.
While Korean brands place orders through Korean ODMs, Chinese brands do as well. Cosmax generated 932.6 billion won in overseas sales last year, with China accounting for 67 percent of the total.
"The quality of Chinese and Korean cosmetics will be similar if the products are manufactured within the same budget," said an industry source who requested anonymity, referring to what would happen if more Chinese brands sourced products to Korean ODMs.
Vistors look at cosmetics packaging samples made by a Chinese company during 2025 InterCharm Korea, a cosmetics expo, held at Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on July 2, 2025.NEWS1
"Chinese brands have already acquired K-beauty's technology and know-how. If they are now manufacturing products at the same facilities used by Korean brands, it will be difficult for Korean cosmetics to maintain a meaningful edge."
Experts say Korean companies need to strengthen their own technological capabilities.
However, research and development (R&D) spending at Amorepacific, LG Household & Health Care and Aekyung Industrial has been declining in recent years. R&D expenditure at the companies accounts for only 2 percent to 3 percent of sales.
"For K-beauty to survive in the long run between price-competitive Chinese brands and premium global brands, it ultimately needs to focus on technology," Kim Joo-duk, professor of beauty industry studies at Seoul Cyber University, said. "Both the government and companies need to make an effort to raise R&D investment to the level of global companies."
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
