H1 2026 Report: China's Beauty Market Analysis
Overview
China's online beauty sales held at CN¥ 434.8 billion in 2025 as content-led commerce rose to 55%. Price tiers, promotions and what grew in H1 2026.
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Key Findings
- The category held its size, but changed its shape.
- Sales have moved to content-led commerce, and the promotional months still decide the year.
- Skincare shoppers are trading down, while colour cosmetics and fragrance are trading up.
- Inside a flat skincare category, products that promise a specific result are growing.
- Whose premium it is depends on the channel, and value-seeking conversation has a home of its own.
Read the chapters
- China Online Beauty Sales Held at CN¥ 434.8 Billion in 2025
- Content-Led Commerce Takes 55% of China Online Beauty Sales
- China Premium Skincare Fell 11.6% in H1 2026 as Luxury Grew
- Anti-Acne Skincare Sales Grew 26.5% in China in H1 2026
- RED Carries 89.4% of China's Skincare Dupe Conversation
- China Beauty 2026: Growth Slows to 1.1%, Five Moves for H2
| Region |
China
|
|---|---|
| Industry |
Beauty & Skincare
|
| Report Type | Market Analysis |
| Pages | 40 |
| Language | en |
| Author | Moojing Market Research Team |
Topics
Frequently Asked Questions
Across three of China's largest online marketplaces, observed online beauty sales were CN¥ 434.8 billion in 2025, +3.4% on 2024, after bottoming out at CN¥ 420.7 billion in 2024. This is not the size of China's whole beauty market, since it excludes physical stores and several other marketplaces.
Content-led commerce, where demand is generated by video, livestream and creator content rather than by search, grew from 28% of three-marketplace beauty sales in January-July 2022 to 55% in January-July 2026, while established marketplace commerce fell from 72% to 45%.
No. Premium skincare, defined as a unit price of CN¥ 360-1,080, fell −6.4% in 2025 while skincare as a whole grew +2.0%, and in the first half of 2026 it fell −11.6% while luxury skincare grew +9.1%. Premium colour cosmetics grew +14.7% and premium fragrance +15.6% in 2025.
Measured by the benefit named in product titles, anti-acne skincare grew fastest in the first half of 2026, by +26.5%, followed by blackheads at +16.3%, oil control at +10.6% and anti-wrinkle at +10.1%, while moisturising, still the largest claim, fell −5.4%.
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China Beauty 2026: Growth Slows to 1.1%, Five Moves for H2
China's online beauty category grew +1.1% in January-July 2026 across three major marketplaces. Five recommendations for brands for H2 2026.
RED Carries 89.4% of China's Skincare Dupe Conversation
RED carried 89.4% of China's social conversation about skincare dupes in 2024-2025 but 19.9% of skincare talk. Where China's beauty conversation happens.
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