China News Service, Hangzhou, October 20 (Lin Bo, Sun Linru) In the late autumn of the mountains in southern Zhejiang, in the gardenia fields in Taishun, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, the continuous gardenia fruits exude a refreshing fragrance. Just a few years ago, these gardenias were faced with the dilemma of being left to rot in the ground when the purchase price of fresh fruits fell below one yuan. Nowadays, gardenias can be sold for up to more than 30 yuan per catty, and gardenia fruits also have a stable minimum price.
Zeng Qiu, chairman of Kanghong Biotechnology Group, said: "Flowers have a season's income, and fruits have a season's income. Farmers' income can increase by 5 to 7 times just by growing these crops."
What doubles the value of this "no one cares about" flower is the research and development of cosmetics. Gardenia flowers and gardenia fruits are extracted through technology and made into liquids and hydrosols, which are blended into facial masks and essences. From fragrance to functional ingredients, a flower connects a complete value chain from the field to the shelf.
Zeng Qiu still remembers the scene when he participated in international exhibitions in his early years - the product was still blank at that time, but overseas merchants chased after him and asked, "Do you have any gardenias?" Her goal is to make Chinese gardenia occupy a place on the world map of cosmetic raw materials like Bulgarian rose and Provence lavender.
The fate of a gardenia is the epitome of the booming cosmetics industry in Zhejiang.
Recently, the author walked into the hinterland of this "beautiful economy" with the "Quality Zhejiang Makeup·Beautiful Zhejiang" whole industry chain themed visit activity.
The cosmetics industry is an important sector of Zhejiang's "415X" advanced manufacturing cluster: in 2025, the province's cosmetics industry chain sales revenue reached 130.2 billion yuan, ranking third in the country, a year-on-year increase of 6.3%; cosmetics retail sales of units above designated size were 47.35 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.9%, 9.4 percentage points higher than the national cosmetics retail sales growth rate; exports were 14.73 billion yuan, ranking second in the country, accounting for 26.4% of the country's total exports.
In the first half of 2026, this growth trend will be even stronger, with retail sales and exports increasing by 24.7% and 22% respectively year-on-year.
The release of industrial vitality cannot be separated from the support of regulatory innovation. Wang Bei, deputy director of the Cosmetics Supervision and Management Division of the Zhejiang Provincial Food and Drug Administration, said that Zhejiang is loosening restrictions and reducing burdens on enterprises by deepening the "enterprise-benefiting and empowering" reform of registration management, promoting "facilitated and faster processing" of domestic general cosmetics registration, and shortening the service cycle.
Under the protection of policies, Zhejiang cosmetics companies have shown their strengths, running at their own pace from raw materials, manufacturing to branding.
In Hu Qingyutang, the genes of a century-old traditional Chinese medicine brand are quietly being "grafted" with cosmetics. The company excavated ancient prescription books and transformed herbal medicines such as pearls, Polygonatum odoratum, Tremella fungus, Ganoderma lucidum, Dendrobium officinale, etc., which are "both internal and external for nourishing and moisturizing" into a compound herbal raw material development system. The traditional water-based processing technology has become the core of raw material quality control.
As a national cosmetics personalized service pilot, Hu Qingyutang is testing the waters of "skin customization" in Zhuji.
"Personalized services for cosmetics require a differentiated value system that runs through raw materials, safety, formulas, scenarios, and brands." Sun Tie, chairman of Zhejiang Huqingyutang Herbal Medicine Co., Ltd., said that in the next step, they plan to link up with the Zhuji Pearl Industry to create a personalized skin care model.
In the "World Supermarket" Yiwu, a story of makeup's "going to sea" is equally touching.
He Guangming, chairman of Zhejiang Yanxue Cosmetics Co., Ltd., recalled that with the rise of Yiwu’s foreign trade decades ago, China and Taiwan’s cosmetics technology followed suit. His products, along with handicrafts and Christmas gifts in the small commodity market, were “taken” overseas by boxes by merchants, and the industry developed “more and more.”
Today, Yanxue has built production lines of nearly 10,000 specifications covering eye makeup, facial makeup, and lip makeup. It has invested more than 50 million yuan in workshop renovation and "machine generation", and high-end intelligent future factories are rising from the ground.
"We can't always be OEMs, we must have our own brand." At the moment, He Guangming is promoting the company's digital transformation to reduce costs, while building a live broadcast team to make the brand bigger and stronger. "Currently, our products have been exported to more than 60 countries and regions around the world, including Europe, the United States, the Middle East, and South America, and we have established exclusive sales agents in more than 20 countries to continue to expand our overseas territory."
In Jinhua, the color cosmetics base, the upgrading of its industrial chain is extending to the source of raw materials.
In June this year, Jinhua Jiuwei New Materials Co., Ltd. completed the registration of two new cosmetic raw materials - ethyl trimethylbenzoylphenylphosphinate and hydroxycyclohexylphenyl ketone, both of which are the core photoinitiators of the UV nail polish photocuring system.
Jin Jiyue, general manager of the company, said that after the localization of raw materials is registered, downstream nail companies can use them directly within the compliance framework and no longer rely on imported or industrial-grade raw materials, making the supply chain of the "fingertip economy" more independent and controllable.
In Taishun, Zeng Qiu traveled to 6 provinces for research, and thus founded Kanghong Bio. It developed raw materials around gardenia fruit and gardenia flowers, built a differentiated development path with patented technology, and then empowered beauty products such as facial cleansing and acne removal. "We want to use modern technology to restore the ancient wisdom of women applying gardenia flowers to their faces and nourishing their skin."
Behind the enterprises' courage to venture and try, the bottom line of quality and safety has always been the lifeline of the industry.
Deng Juan, deputy director of the Cosmetics Review and Monitoring Department of the Zhejiang Provincial Drug and Cosmetic Review Center, said that the center continues to strengthen risk management and control of registered products to maintain a safe bottom line for the high-quality development of the industry.
At present, Zhejiang's cosmetics industry is "beautifying" the "appearance" of China and the world in its own way.
