Are Chinese-made skincare brands downplaying their origins to appeal to Southeast Asians?
- While brands like Skintific are labelled ‘Made in the PRC’, China isn’t mentioned in their marketing materials
- Consumers in Indonesia and Malaysia are concerned about whether Chinese-made products meet halal certification standards
“It is quite a big phenomenon here,” the Kuala Lumpur resident told This Week in Asia. “It is widely marketed here, using celebrity ambassadors, and is already sold in Malaysian drug stores.”
Skintific, which was launched in Indonesia in 2021, is one of several Chinese-made skincare brands that have been making rapid inroads in Muslim dominated markets such as Indonesia and Malaysia in recent years due to their low prices and perceived high quality.
Yet many of these brands appear to downplay the fact they are manufactured in China in favour of presenting themselves as local products made specifically for the Indonesian and Malaysian markets, an analyst says. Such positioning would allow them to sidestep concerns about safety and halal certification that other Chinese-made products might face.
While other Western and Korean skincare products have also flooded the Malaysian and Indonesian markets in recent years, these brands do not obscure their “foreign” origins, meaning consumers are able to make a more informed decision.
