The health and beauty industry occupies a special position in Beijing's healthcare industry as a driving force behind the implementation of the three-pronged product strategy that aims to increase variety, improve quality, and create new brands. The health and beauty industry also plays an important role in promoting the expansion of the medicine and healthcare industrial chain and nurturing new drivers for economic growth. The aim of this action plan is to accelerate the growth of the health and beauty industry in Beijing, gather high-end elements, establish industrial clusters and promote consumption upgrade so as to support Beijing's effort to build a city of innovation, consumption and a promising future for the global health and beauty industry. 

I. General Requirements

(I) Development Guidelines

This action plan follows the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, implements the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech to Beijing Municipality. It will uphold the Five Key Initiatives as new development dynamics and will resort to preferential policies in the development of the Integrated National Demonstration Zone for Opening up the Services Sector and the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone ("Two Zones") and Zhongguancun Science Park pilot projects". The action plan will leverage Beijing's efforts to build an international center for consumption to enhance research and development (R&D) and innovation capabilities, foster characteristic industrial clusters, and accelerate the construction of the "Beautiful City of the Future". Furthermore, the action plan seeks to comprehensively improve the health and beauty industry's sci-tech innovation capabilities, industrial competency, brand influence, driving force for consumption and ecological attractiveness so as to transform Beijing into a globally renowned cradle for scientific and technological innovation, a hub for industrial development and a center for fashion brands.

(II) Development Principles

The Plan will maintain the leading role of science and technology. Beijing will focus on the R&D and production of medical devices such as in-vitro diagnostic reagents and implants. Collaborative efforts with universities and scientific research institutions will be undertaken to address key challenges and drive innovative development in the health and beauty industry in Beijing. Significant attention will be paid to the innovative potential of biomedicine and advanced technology among others within the framework of Beijing's "Beautiful City of the Future", with special effort directed toward accelerating the integration of innovation, industrial and talent chains and promoting the collaborative application of innovative outcomes in the industry of medicine and healthcare to the realm of health and beauty sector.

The Plan will keep focusing on institutional innovation. It will thoroughly implement the Provisions for Supervision and Administration of Cosmetics and corresponding laws and regulations while leveraging the opportunities presented by the development of the "Two Zones" to promote further opening-up of the whole health and beauty industrial chain. Efforts will be made to streamline filing processes in the management of imported cosmetics and address other issues of importance. The city will seek to establish an institutional system conducive to the development of the health and beauty industry.

The Plan will adhere to the principle of opening up and integration. Opportunities presented by the establishment of an international center for consumption and a pilot zone for personalized cosmetic services in Beijing will allow the city to actively advance the development of new consumption models for the health and beauty industry and innovative business formats. Efforts will be made to attract an array of first stores and encourage first product launches and exhibitions in Beijing while fostering cultural intellectual property along the lines of the "Culture of Products Made in Beijing", the "Culture of Trendy Brands", the "Culture of the Ming Dynasty", and others. Steady growth in global cosmetic industry retail sales brings new opportunities for the city to participate in international cosmetic trade exhibitions and collaboration with major international brands for the establishment of R&D centers, further tapping into market demand, stimulating consumption potential, and building a hub for consumption in health and beauty in Beijing.

The Plan will focus on industrial clusters. Beijing will establish a batch of distinctive industrial parks and a comprehensive service system that integrates "spaces, platforms, funds, and policies" with an aim of leading the way to an industrial ecosystem that fosters innovative development and serves as a model in the health and beauty industry. With the "Beautiful City of the Future" brand playing a leading role, Beijing will push a batch of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to grow stronger, encourage a contingent of enterprises to expand and upgrade, attract international enterprise headquarters to establish a presence in Beijing and foster a mutually dependent and beneficial industrial chain across various links such as R&D, pilot-scale testing, production, consumption and services.

(III) Development Objectives

Beijing aims to establish a health and beauty industry's ecological chain that integrates headquarters economy, R&D and innovation, high-end manufacturing, inspection and testing and international consumption by 2025. The city also endeavors to create a collaborative development pattern that advances the mutual promotion of consumption upgrade and industrial upgrade and boosts collaboration in various aspects. Moreover, efforts will be made to foster an open and inclusive industrial ecosystem that encourages innovation, and to build a significant carrier for the health and beauty industry within the "Beautiful City of the Future" framework. All these measures will transform Beijing into a city of innovation, consumption and a promising future for global health and beauty industry.    

Beijing will unleash the vitality of R&D and innovation under the plan. It will significantly strengthen basic research and original innovation capabilities, considerably enhance innovation platforms and carriers, and continuously improve innovation infrastructure. By 2025, five R&D and innovation centers will be established and at least ten advanced scientific research institutions in the field of health and beauty will be attracted to set up clinical research and innovation transformation centers in the city. Support will be provided to raw material enterprises for the registration and filing of 20 new cosmetic raw materials, and help will be given to bringing five medical aesthetic devices to the market.

Featured industrial clusters will be gradually expanded in Beijing under the plan. By 2025, Beijing will introduce and expand 30 high-quality brand enterprises with an annual operating revenue exceeding CNY 1 billion each and cultivate 50 specialized, high-grade and innovation-driven businesses providing distinctive products or services. Efforts will be made to establish corporate technology centers and steadily increase the number of annual enterprise patents. The pattern of setting up the whole industrial chain of Beijing's "Beautiful City of the Future" brand will basically take shape, and the revenue in the health and beauty industry in Beijing will be doubled.   

Beijing will speed up the creation of an industrial ecosystem under the plan. By 2025, an agglomeration development pattern integrating "industries, industrial parks and platforms" will be put in place. Five industrial supporting platforms with clear division of labor and ten intelligent manufacturing plants will be established. An industrial ecosystem based on the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region will be formed. Brand-building efforts in the health and beauty industry are expected to yield initial outcomes with over 15 immersive consumption scenarios for personalized services. A batch of first stores will be introduced, followed by first product launches, shows, and exhibitions to be arranged in Beijing, so as to nourish a contingent of cultural intellectual property rights with international influence.

II. Main Tasks

(I) Implementing Innovation Leading Project

1. Accelerating the process of tackling key problems of innovative products. Efforts will be made to leverage Beijing's advantage of innovative elements concentration to break the technological obstacles in the field of cosmetics through cutting-edge scientific research achievements in bioengineering, dermatology, zoology, botany, among others. With the support of the pharmaceutical industry, R&D in innovative raw materials for cosmetics such as the extraction of functional substances from natural sources, and the design and development of formulas and production techniques will be advanced. Support will be provided to leading cosmetic enterprises to form innovation consortiums with universities and research institutes for cooperation aiming to make scientific and technological breakthroughs in new raw materials, production techniques, functions and efficacy of cosmetics. Medical aesthetics enterprises will also receive support for breakthroughs in core technologies such as lasers, photonics, radio frequency, ultrasound and regenerative medical aesthetic materials, and for the development of cutting-edge medical aesthetic equipment. (Responsible authorities: Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, Administrative Commission of Zhongguancun Science Park, Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, Beijing Municipal Medical Products Administration, and Changping District People's Government of Beijing Municipality)

2. Building a service platform for innovation. Focusing on cutting-edge fields, such as the construction of high-end cosmetic brand images and the cultural and creative industries in cosmetics. Beijing will establish public service and resource-sharing platforms for cosmetic formula R&D, generic technology innovation, efficacy and safety evaluation, product packaging design and techniques verification. At the same time, the city will foster collaboration among universities, enterprises, and testing institutions to establish a technical service platform. The city will also speed up the building of public service platforms for industrial entrepreneurship and innovation, such as health and beauty start-up incubators and scientific research achievement accelerators, so as to facilitate the gathering and introduction of enterprises. Moreover, the city will also strengthen and consolidate the platforms for international exchanges and cooperation to guide enterprises to fully benefit from tariff concession policies under existing free trade agreements. (Responsible authorities: Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, Administrative Commission of Zhongguancun Science Park, Beijing Municipal Medical Products Administration, and Changping District People's Government of Beijing Municipality)

3. Optimizing the commercialization approaches of scientific achievements. Beijing will integrate the review processes with R&D in cosmetic and medical aesthetic device industries, extend review and evaluation services into the R&D stage to ensure early intervention, entire process tracking and proactive services to accelerate the R&D process and facilitate the commercialization of research achievements. Efforts will be made to promote the introduction and coordination of upstream and downstream industrial chain elements such as R&D, design, production, raw materials, packaging materials, and testing. The city will enhance integration and cooperation between large, medium and small enterprises so as to foster an innovative ecosystem of "enterprise plus service environment". The city will also promote the establishment of the "Beautiful City of the Future" Health and Beauty Industry Special Competition as a part of the "Maker in Beijing" Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition so as to overcome key technological challenges and achieve rapid commercialization of scientific research achievements. (Responsible authorities: Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, Administrative Commission of Zhongguancun Science Park, Beijing Municipal Medical Products Administration, and Changping District People's Government of Beijing Municipality)

(II) Implementing Projects for Expanding Industrial Scales

4. Promoting the development of industrial clusters. Beijing will cultivate health and beauty industrial clusters worth CNY 100 billion each and explore new modes of investment attraction at municipal and district levels jointly. Multinationals in the health and beauty industry will be encouraged to set up their regional headquarters in the Beauty City of the Future, while guidance will be given to the backbone health and beauty enterprises and major projects dedicated to cosmetics and medical aesthetics equipment to make them prioritize the Beauty City of the Future as the destination to establish their presence. Key scientific research institutes, R&D institutions, technical organizations dedicated to standardization, inspection and testing institutions, and industrial measurement and testing platforms, among others, will also be encouraged to settle in clusters within the city. Entities responsible for the filing process in the cosmetics industry will be encouraged to conduct innovative research on personalized service scenarios and domains within the scope required by the National Medical Products Administration. Through this means, these entities will seek to integrate the results of municipal-level pilot projects and promote personalized services in accordance with the guidelines of the National Medical Products Administration to create Beijing's model that can be replicated and promoted. The city will seek to innovate in the regulation of personalized services as well as personalized service methods. Finally, support will be offered to small and medium-sized sci-tech enterprises to help them become more professional, refined, unique, and original in their development. (Responsible authorities: Changping District People's Government of Beijing Municipality, Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, Beijing Investment Promotion Service Center, and Beijing Municipal Medical Products Administration)

5. Helping enterprises grow bigger and stronger. Beijing will help cosmetic enterprises in filing, registration, and commercialization of new cosmetic raw materials and cosmetic products with novel efficacy. The cosmetic new material enterprises will be supported to proceed with basic research and manufacturing of cosmetic raw materials in a vigorous manner to address existing common challenges such as excessive reliance on imports within the industry chain of the cosmetic raw materials. Cosmetic and medical aesthetics enterprises will be encouraged to, through expanding equity investments and other means, enter a second phase of growth of technological advancements and brand development. Beijing will also promote the digital transformation and upgrading of key enterprises and integrate the digital transformation chains of industrial Internet and consumer Internet, to unleash the potential of the digital economy in the health and beauty industry and bring new competencies to market. (Responsible authorities: Changping District People's Government of Beijing Municipality, Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, and Beijing Municipal Medical Products Administration)

6. Driving the regional industrial coordinated development. Beijing will make good use of industrial coordination policies in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region and encourage enterprises based in it to encourage enterprises based in the capital to, by establishing industrial internet platforms and integrating headquarters and regional factories, realize matchmaking of production resources and coordination of production processes with their own manufacturers in Tianjin and Hebei. Support will be given to cosmetic manufacturers seeking to identify reliable suppliers. What's more, the city will seek to address existing gaps in the production of raw and packaging materials by coordinating innovation, industry, and supply chains within the health and beauty industry throughout the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region. (Responsible authorities: Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, Beijing Municipal Medical Products Administration, and Changping District People's Government of Beijing Municipality)

(III) Driving Development with Consumption

7. Developing clusters for consumption for the beauty and health industry. Beijing will attract internationally competitive cosmetic brands and encourage them to conduct continuously the product launches, debut exhibitions and debut shows, so as to bring more new stores and innovative products into Beijing. Leveraging the development of specialized live-streaming e-commerce hubs in Beijing, professional live-streaming service providers will be cultivated and supported. Beijing will also encourage cosmetic e-commerce platforms to settle in the city, and establish a professional cross-border e-commerce platform for displaying and selling relevant products. (Responsible authorities: Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau and relevant districts' people's governments)

8. Making China-chic culture with Beijing's characteristics power industrial development. Promotional projects for national cosmetic brands will be carried out to showcase well the unique qualities, cultural value, and other aspects of Chinese brands, in a bid to boost the advancements of the established brands and nurture the growth of new ones. Exquisite products embodying the special culture of the capital of China will debut. Moving on, the sales channels will be expanded for high-quality, distinctive Chinese cosmetic products. The city also plans to guide brands in setting up special display windows through pop-up stores, future concept stores, and joint displays of products and art collections, among other approaches. By doing so, it aims to foster a cosmetic product ecosystem ripe with cultural charm and marked by strong brand strength. (Responsible authorities: Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau, Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, and relevant districts' people's governments)

9. Promoting integration and upgrading of health and beauty consumption formats. The city will seize the opportunities presented by cosmetic exhibitions and new product releases to foster the growth of the cultural and tourism industries in its surroundings. Beijing will also take advantage of the pilot projects for personalized cosmetic services to encourage participants of such projects to offer virtual makeup experiences. The technical advantages of medical information systems will be maximized to encourage medical aesthetics enterprises to conduct online diagnoses for medical beauty purposes. Furthermore, Beijing will make effective use of its own cultural copyrighted items to facilitate the integrated development of the health and beauty industry with cultural tourism. (Responsible authorities: Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau, Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, and Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism)

10. Building Beijing's image as an international center of health and beauty. Beijing will, adhering to its role as a center for international exchanges, promote its health and beauty industry to go global. Further efforts include strengthening the promotion of the city's brand, and leveraging open communication platforms. Through these means, the city aims to attract international brands, technologies, talented minds, and other high-end elements from around the globe, facilitate the release of new innovation achievements of local brands, and strengthen exchanges and cooperation with international partners. As such, Beijing will enhance industrial collaboration with international sister cities, including New York (United States of America) and Seoul (Republic of Korea), as well as the Belt and Road partner countries. These efforts will enable local brands to enter global markets and simultaneously attract international enterprises of renown to establish their presence in Beijing, so that the city can foster greater openness and exchange and enhance the competitiveness of Beijing's health and beauty industry on the global market. (Responsible authorities: Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau, and the Foreign Affairs Office of the People's Government of Beijing Municipality)

(IV) Empowering Development with Openness

11. Creating demonstration zones piloting the implementation of innovative policies. Beijing will draw on the institutional advantages of the "Two Zones" to push for the opening-up of policies for the entire industry chain and all sections of the city's health and beauty industry, powering the industry in terms of R&D, production, brand building, consumption and distribution. Measures to facilitate customs clearance for samples of cosmetics and medical beauty products, which are used in the registration and R&D processes, are being considered. The simultaneous global sales of high-quality imported products will be encouraged, with a cross-provincial mechanism for recognizing the filed qualifications of attending physicians in the medical beauty domain being proactively explored. The flow of physicians between different types and levels of medical institutions will be encouraged and standardized. Further efforts will be made in enhancing the management of the medical beauty industry and refining relevant policies. The abilities of professional personnel will be improved continuously to meet the personal service demands of the public. (Responsible authorities: Integrated Coordination Office of the Development of the "Two Zones" in Beijing, Beijing Municipal Medical Products Administration, Beijing Municipal Health Commission, Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, and Beijing Customs District)

12. Innovating industry supervision. Beijing will make the most of the developmental opportunities presented by the "Two Zones" to drive industrial innovation and openness, conducting research on facilitation measures for first-store debut events, product debuts, and first exhibitions and displays. In addition, the city will develop alternative procedures for submitting marketing certificates of imported products during the filing stage, as well as the corresponding work flows, facilitating the simultaneous global release of products. Furthermore, Beijing will explore the mutual recognition of efficacy testing and microbiological test results for imported cosmetics in line with ISO standards, optimizing the import process for products used for R&D and registration activities. Finally, measures will be taken to expedite customs clearance for domestically produced cosmetics for export purposes. (Responsible authorities: Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau, Beijing Customs District, and relevant districts' people's governments)

Ⅲ. Support Measures

(I) Strengthening the leadership. Beijing will establish a joint conference system to promote the development of the beauty and health industry. The system will guide the focus of all districts on distinctive fields, support mutual development, and create a cross-regional collaborative mechanism that integrates industry and consumer demands, likewise establishing a closed-loop supervision mechanism, all-encompassing supervision, evaluation, feedback, and rectification. This will result in a targeted management mechanism, a regular exchange of information, more precise annual work plans, and clearer responsibilities, ensuring the completion of important indicators and key tasks. Finally, Beijing will establish a cooperation and assistance mechanism based on an industrial chain service group of both enterprises and expert teams, thus enabling the city to address development challenges and tackle difficulties and pain points within the beauty and health industry through institutional innovation.

(II) Ensuring support and resources for development. Beijing will intensify research into significant issues within the beauty and health industry, providing support for the application of innovative beauty and health products in medical institutions and facilitating the promotion and utilization of innovative products. The city will focus on enhancing technical reviews concerning product filing and production licensing to ensure high-quality reviews. By simplifying the review process according to the relevant laws and regulations, the city will expedite the marketing and promotion of products, strengthening the provision of space resources and establishing professional bases for the incubation and acceleration of the beauty and health industry. Finally, the city will promote project development for industrialization and enhance the industry's capacity to attract and support businesses.

(III) Ensuring financial support. Beijing will make effective use of existing funds at the municipal level to provide support for Beijing's beauty and health industry under the concept of "Beauty City of the Future" encouraging cosmetic enterprises to apply for accreditation as high-tech enterprises or specialized, refined, differential and innovative enterprises that provide distinctive products or services. These enterprises will receive support from Beijing policies intended for high-end, precision, and sophisticated industries. Furthermore, eligible cosmetic projects will receive support to apply for national and municipal key projects or major research topics. High-quality projects facilitating the innovative development and industrial agglomeration of the beauty and health industry will receive rewards and subsidies based on the specific proportion outlined by municipal or district regulations. This approach aims to foster coordinated development with other industries such as healthcare. In addition, Beijing will develop research and development loans within the health and beauty industry, with reduced interest for major projects. The city will encourage enterprises to benefit from pilot projects in mergers and acquisitions loans and talent-centered loans, increasing the proportion of mergers and acquisitions loans obtained by borrowers. Finally, Beijing will explore the establishment of a beauty and health industry fund, thus cultivating and attracting specialized, refined, differential and innovative enterprises that provide distinctive products or services.

(IV) Ensuring talent resources. Beijing will introduce mechanisms for building a high-level talent hub, setting up a project pool to attract leading talent and gathering exceptional individuals from home and abroad. Preferential policies will be developed to fulfill the demands of industrial talent. To bridge the talent gap in areas such as raw materials, formulas, processes, testing, evaluation, and quality and safety, the city will strengthen the cultivation and development of individuals with expertise in these domains, supporting universities in enhancing disciplines related to cosmetics. The city will also encourage enterprises to establish academic workstations, supporting them in the process and facilitating collaboration with academicians to address key technological challenges. Finally, the city will expedite the transfer and commercialization of high-quality scientific and technical achievements.

(V) Promoting social co-governance. Beijing will enhance government services for the administrative licensing of cosmetics, cracking down on illegal activities, such as unauthorized production and false advertising, and establishing a fair and orderly market environment. The city will strengthen information sharing and cooperation across the industry chain and facilitate the development of local standards and group standards in innovative areas encompassing new technologies and business models. The protection of intellectual property rights will be intensified, with strict action against counterfeiting, infringement, and other illegal activities. By addressing these issues, Beijing will show its commitment to high-quality development of the beauty and health industry, building confidence among enterprises operating in Beijing and encouraging their further development.