11月25日，中国日报整版刊发《Charting distinctive path for beauty brands》文章，深度报道无锡高新区以“楼上研发、楼下转化”的垂直生态为核心，全链条创新驱动，解锁美丽健康产业百亿新赛道。

　　原文如下↓↓↓

Charting distinctive path for beauty brands

　　By 2030, Wuxi National High-tech District aims to grow cosmetics and wellness sector to 10b yuan, attract 30 leading firms

　　A technician (right) helps a China Daily reporter experience a skin analyzer at Jiangnan Institute of Beauty Research in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, in September. XU JIAYI/CHINA DAILY

　　Can you believe that an entire industry chain operates inside a single building in Wuxi, Jiangsu province?

　　In Wuxi National High-tech District, this is exactly how the beauty and wellness industry works.

　　At Jiangnan Beauty Bay, an industrial park dedicated to the beauty and wellness sector, raw materials travel upstairs and return as finished products, while livestreamers next door sell them to consumers worldwide. Here, "upstairs and downstairs" is literally "upstream and downstream".

　　Research and development are at the earliest stage of this industry chain.

　　Inside the R&D lab of the Jiangnan Institute of Beauty Research, a new facility established with help from Jiangnan University, scientists are creating the ideas that will shape tomorrow's beauty brands.

　　"Scientific innovation is the 'brain' and 'engine' of the modern beauty and wellness industry. It has shifted from a supporting role to the core driving force behind industrial upgrading and value creation," said Li Jinhua, a professor at Jiangnan University and head of the institute.

　　Li said the institute's technological capabilities also play a vital role in optimizing production processes, supporting industrialization and bridging laboratories with brand owners.

　　"R&D is no longer an optional link in the beauty supply chain — it is the lifeline running through the entire process. It determines whether products can stand out from homogenized competition, whether brands can build long-term trust and whether the whole industry can move toward higher efficiency, scientific rigor and sustainability," he said.

　　A foreign tourist checks out a Dexter skincare product at its flagship store in Wuxi in October. XU YAN/CHINA DAILY

　　Focusing on innovative raw material development, formulation technologies, efficacy evaluation and more, the institute has served more than 100 leading domestic and international cosmetics and personal care companies.

　　Inside the Jiangnan Beauty Bay building, innovation upstairs is quickly translated into commercial products downstairs.

　　On the production line of Rayting Biotechnology, rows of fermentation tanks have helped turn lab inspirations into tangible ingredients.

　　"Take fermentation technology as an example: once a promising strain is identified in the lab, it can come to us immediately for pilot-scale amplification and verification. If successful, it moves straight into production as a commercial ingredient," said Du Yangbiao, chairman of Rayting Biotechnology.

　　"This seamless handoff reduces the risks of innovation and accelerates the entire process," Du said.

　　Fermentation essentially creates the ideal growth environment for microorganisms, Du explained. The process begins with an original strain stored at minus 80 C and expands step-by-step until it reaches multi-ton fermentation tanks — a process that demands precise control.

　　After years of collaboration with Jiangnan University, the producer has built its own strain library and proprietary fermentation technologies, breaking the long-standing dominance of overseas suppliers in active raw materials.

　　"Raw materials are the core technology inside beauty products — they are the 'chips' of the cosmetics industry. Our job is to reliably scale up lab discoveries into ingredients that downstream manufacturers can use," Du said.

　　A view of a skin pigmentation analysis machine at Yiwei Testing & Evaluation in Wuxi. CHINA DAILY

　　The building's "vertical ecosystem" has rapidly attracted beauty and wellness companies to the industrial park. Since its opening in April, Jiangnan Beauty Bay has brought in 58 enterprises, achieved an occupancy rate of over 70 percent and created over 400 jobs, said Guo Zhilong, general manager of the park.

　　In terms of this year's development goals, Jiangnan Beauty Bay is expected to exceed 3 billion yuan ($422 million) in revenue with more than 100 million yuan in tax contributions, Guo said.

　　Once ingredients are ready, it's time for manufacturers inside the building to turn formulas into mass-market products.

　　"Scaling up a lab sample into industrial production isn't simply multiplying the quantities. It is a complex, rigorous process involving shifts in physical, chemical and engineering conditions," said Michael Jungho Kim, president of Kolmar Cosmetics (Wuxi).

　　Consumers gather at the booth of Kolmar Cosmetics (Wuxi) during a beauty industry expo in Shanghai in May. CHINA DAILY

　　To ensure quality, the manufacturer runs comprehensive inspections and validation throughout the entire process, with six stages of testing from raw materials entry to final shipment, Kim added.

　　As someone who has lived in China for 18 years, Kim said he has witnessed the rise and rapid growth of China's beauty and wellness industry.

　　"Chinese beauty ODMs (original design manufacturers) are increasingly competitive — not only in efficiency and cost, but also in rapid learning, technological accumulation and alignment with global market needs," he said.

　　As a bridge connecting Chinese and global beauty technologies and markets, Kolmar will continue advancing open innovation and integrating high-quality resources worldwide, helping Chinese ODMs shift from "serving China" to "serving the world", Kim noted.

　　What's built upstream and midstream eventually comes to life as brands that win over consumers.

　　As one of the first companies to settle in Jiangnan Beauty Bay, Dexter, a homegrown Wuxi brand, has grown into China's first infant and child personal care company with revenue surpassing 1 billion yuan.

　　"With labs upstairs and production lines downstairs, we compete on product development speed while others still compete on traffic," said Zhang Xiaojun, founder and CEO of Dexter.

　　"Fast R&D, fast iteration — sometimes our upgraded version launches before consumer feedback cools down."

　　Jiangnan Beauty Bay, a beauty and wellness industrial park, is seen in Wuxi National High-tech District in Wuxi in September. XU JIAYI/CHINA DAILY

　　Zhang, who once worked as an overseas shipping agent while studying abroad, is now taking his own brand global — a "reverse export", as he describes it.

　　"Not long ago, we were chasing international brands. Now they're studying our ingredient lists. This upstairs-downstairs model lets us integrate resources, test quickly, iterate quickly and innovate quickly," he said.

　　But how do brands know whether their products truly deliver results to end consumers?

　　Inside the same building, Yiwei Testing & Evaluation provides one-stop services from formulation design and consumer insights to efficacy verification and sensory evaluation.

　　For example, advanced sensory evaluation technologies help address a major industry challenge — the heavy reliance on subjective human perception in assessing product texture and makeup performance, which makes it difficult to quantify results, said Li Mingyuan, founder and CEO of Yiwei.

　　"Objective, quantifiable assessments of usage experience are provided by trained panelists. These sensory data can then be modeled with rheology, consumer behavior preferences and other indicators to generate measurable feedback," Li said.

　　Fermentation tanks are seen at the production line of Rayting Biotechnology in Wuxi National High-tech District in Wuxi. XU JIAYI/CHINA DAILY

　　The niche evaluation player now operates 4,000 square meters of labs covering efficacy testing, cell studies, skin-on-a-chip platforms and more, spanning skincare, makeup, scalp care and haircare sectors in the beauty and wellness industry.

　　The coordinated growth of R&D institutions and testing providers is a key pillar of Wuxi National High-tech District's strategy to develop the beauty and wellness sector — now one of its three signature biomedicine tracks.

　　By 2030, the district aims to grow the industry to 10 billion yuan and attract 30 leading enterprises, according to the administrative committee of the high-tech zone.

　　Future plans include building a full-chain ecosystem integrating R&D, manufacturing and marketing through Jiangnan Beauty Bay; developing specialized facilities such as collaborative aesthetic medicine centers; and strengthening platform-based innovation — including advancing synthetic biology and active ingredient encapsulation platforms — to chart a distinctive development path for the industry.

　　中文摘要如下↓↓↓

美丽产业独辟蹊径：

无锡高新区打造“上下楼即上下游”

产业发展模式

　　目标：2030年美丽健康产业规模超百亿

　　集聚30家龙头企业

　　“江南美湾”是一座位于无锡高新区的美丽健康产业园，在这里，原料运上楼便能化身为成品，而隔壁直播间的主播们正将这些产品销往全球。在这里，“楼上”“楼下”就是产业链的“上游”“下游”，而研发则位居这条产业链的最前端。

　　在江南美湾研究院崭新的研发实验室里，科学家们正在构思、塑造未来美妆品牌新的创意。江南大学教授、研究院院长李金华表示：“科技创新作为现代美丽健康产业的‘大脑’和‘引擎’，已经从辅助角色转变为产业升级和价值创造的核心驱动力。”研究院专注于创新原料的开发、配方技术、功效评价等领域，已经为超过100家国内外领先的化妆品和个人护理公司提供服务。

　　在产业园内，创新成果能迅速转化为商业化产品。瑞霆公司董事长杜养标介绍：“以发酵技术为例，一旦实验室鉴定出有潜力的菌种，就能交给我们立刻进行中试放大和验证，若验证成功，就能直接作为商业原料投入生产。”这种无缝衔接降低了创新风险，并加速了整个产业化过程。经过与江南大学的多年合作，瑞霆公司已建立起自己的菌种库和专属发酵技术，打破了海外供应商在活性原料领域长期的垄断地位。

　　这种“垂直生态”模式迅速吸引了美丽健康企业入驻无锡美丽健康产业园。园区相关负责人表示，自4月开园以来，“江南美湾”已经引进58家企业，入驻率超过70%，创造了400多个就业岗位。今年园区预计营收将超过30亿元人民币，税收贡献超1亿元。

　　科玛化妆品（无锡）有限公司总裁金正虎（Michael Jungho Kim）已经在中国生活了18年，见证了中国美丽健康产业的崛起和快速增长。“中国的美妆ODM（原始设计制造商）竞争力日益增强——不仅体现在效率和成本上，还体现在快速学习、技术积累以及与全球市场需求接轨的能力上。”他指出，作为连接中国与全球美妆技术和市场的桥梁，科玛化妆品公司将继续推进开放式创新，整合全球优质资源，助力中国ODM从“服务中国”转向“服务全球”。

　　上游和中游的成果最终会转化为赢得消费者青睐的品牌。作为首批入驻“江南美湾”的企业之一，无锡本土公司戴可思已成长为中国首家营收突破10亿元的婴童护理品牌。戴可思创始人兼首席执行官张晓军表示：“实验室在楼上，生产线在楼下，当别人还在比拼流量时，我们比拼的是产品开发速度。快速研发、快速迭代——有时候，在消费者的反馈热度还未消退时，我们就已经推出了升级版产品。”

　　那么，品牌方如何知道他们的产品是否真正为终端消费者带来了效果呢？就在同一栋大楼里，一苇评测则提供从配方设计、消费者洞察到功效验证和感官评价的一站式服务。这家专注于细分领域的检测企业目前运营着4000平方米的实验室，覆盖美丽健康行业的护肤、彩妆、头皮护理和护发等领域，涵盖功效测试、细胞研究、芯片皮肤平台等方面。

　　研发机构和检测服务商的协同发展，是无锡高新区发展美丽健康产业战略的关键支柱。根据规划，到2030年，该产业规模将达到百亿元，并吸引30家龙头企业入驻。未来规划还包括：通过“江南美湾”打造集研发、制造、营销于一体的全链条生态系统；建设协同医美中心等专业设施；以及加强平台化创新，包括推进合成生物学和活性原料封装平台等，为美丽健康产业开辟一条独具特色的发展路径。

来源：中国日报、无锡高新区在线