On November 17, 2025, China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) issued the Opinions on Deepening Cosmetics Regulatory Reform and Promoting High-Quality Development of the Industry (hereinafter referred to as the Opinions).
The document introduces 24 major reform measures across five key areas:
- encouraging innovation,
- optimizing registration and filing management,
- strengthening full-chain risk prevention and control,
- enhancing intelligent supervision capabilities, and
- promoting regulatory convergence with international practices.
This article provides an optimized, easy-to-read interpretation of the new measures.
Strengthening Support for Innovation in the Cosmetics Industry
Streamlining Registrations for Cosmetics with New Efficacies:
In response to evolving consumer demands and industry development trends, the registration and submission of cosmetics with new efficacies will be supported, with applications reviewed upon submission.
- A pre-submission consultation mechanism will be explored, and
- The classification rules and product category catalog for cosmetics will be updated in due course.
Encouraging First Launch of New Cosmetic Products in China:
- China aims to build a “first-launch economy” aligned with high-standard international economic and trade rules.
- International cosmetic products first launched and marketed in China, may no longer need to submit proof of prior overseas marketing authorization for specific export-only product scenarios.
Supporting Cosmetics for the “Silver Economy”:
- Enterprises are encouraged to strengthen technological R&D for cosmetics targeted at the elderly population (“silver-haired” consumers).
- Promote fundamental research on mechanisms of skin aging.
- Supports registration/filing of elderly specific cosmetics.
Innovating Cosmetics Labeling Management:
- Accelerated the adoption of electronic labeling.
- Establishes requirements for e-labels indication and data management to support digital, low-carbon governance.
Promoting Personalized Cosmetic Service Models:
- Allows on-site, simplified formulation and repackaging services for registered general cosmetics at business premises, based on consumer needs.
- Applies principles of safety, controllability, and orderly regulation.
Strengthening Industry Support Measures:
- Encourages provincial-level drug regulatory authorities to introduce supportive policies, promote green and low-carbon development, and foster international competitive domestic brands.
Enhancing the Efficiency of Cosmetics Registration and Filing Management
Supporting Technological Innovation in Cosmetic Ingredients:
- Improves the classification and technical evaluation system for new ingredients.
- Explores establishing an ingredient naming system compatible with both national and international practices.
- Efforts will focus on developing standards for ingredients that are widely used in the industry, have high safety risks, or are derived from plant resources with Chinese characteristics.
- A coordinated mechanism between R&D and technical review will be established, including a pre-consultation channel for eligible new ingredients, offering full-process services such as early engagement, process guidance, and dynamic optimization.
Optimizing Registration and Filing Documentation:
- Allows cosmetic products under the same brand with similar formulation systems to share the same product safety technical documentation during registration or filing, when differing only in the types or concentrations of colorants, fragrances, and similar ingredients
- For manufacturing site changes, the reuse of original registration/filing technical documentation will be permitted, except for updated microbiological and physicochemical test reports.
- The responsibilities of cosmetic registrants and filers for product quality and safety will be further emphasized. Safety-related information of cosmetic ingredients will be managed by the enterprise through self-archiving for future inspection, rather than being submitted with each filing.
Improving Technical Review Quality and Efficiency:
- Explores the establishment of a “national–provincial” joint review mechanism.
- Capable provincial drug regulatory departments can undertake part of the technical review work for special cosmetics.
- Review timelines for special cosmetic modifications will be shortened from 90 working days to 60 for high-risk modification items and 45 and low-risk.
- For low-risk modification items (not involving safety or efficacy claims), registrants can update the information independently.
Optimizing the Safety Assessment System:
- Promote the use of advanced assessment technologies and continuous improvement of technical guidelines for cosmetic safety assessment, and enhance the scientific rigor, accuracy, and applicability of assessment work.
- Strengthens enterprises' full lifecycle management responsibilities.
Optimize Efficacy Claim Management:
- Except for freckle-removing and whitening, sun protection, and hair loss prevention claims, cosmetic registrants and filers can choose their own evaluation methods for efficacy claim evaluations.
- Products under the same brand with similar formulations can share efficacy evaluation test data.
- Supports industry associations and other social organizations in developing guidelines for cosmetic efficacy claims and guiding the standardization of labeling claim language.
Improving the Regulatory Mechanism for Production and Operation
Promote Risk-based Classification and Supervision of Enterprises:
- Encourage a risk-based classification system based on quality management capability, enabling smarter allocation of regulatory resources.
Optimizing Production Quality Management:
- Deepen initiatives to improve the production quality management systems and support intelligent manufacturing.
- Explore off-site warehouse release management.
- Promote the establishment of a professional title evaluation system for quality and safety personnel across R&D, production, testing, and evaluation.
Strengthening Supervision of Online Cosmetic Operations:
- Enhances the “online governance of online activities” regulatory mechanism.
- Improves risk identification capabilities via the national cosmetic online operation monitoring platform.
- Hold e-commerce platforms accountable for compliance.
- Strengthens targeted monitoring of illegal activities such as unregistered/unrecorded products, prohibited substances, and self-formulation.
Improving Adverse Reaction Monitoring and Evaluation:
- Strengthens the national monitoring platform and data quality.
- Reinforces registrant/filer responsibility for ongoing analysis and risk assessment.
- Promotes application of evaluation results in regulatory decision-making.
Strengthening Extended Supervision:
- Enhances verification of data authenticity in cosmetic registration and filing.
- Introduces extended inspections targeting testing institutions and others to build a full-chain risk prevention and control system.
Strengthen Technical Support and Safeguards for Cosmetic Regulation
Enhance Regulatory Workforce and Capacity Building:
- Strengthens the professional capacity in technical review and inspection.
- Promotes collaborative regulation and innovation models across provinces.
- Encourages provincial participation in pre-submission consultations for special cosmetics registration and new cosmetic ingredient registration and filing.
Improving the Standards System:
- Accelerates the development of a scientific, unified, authoritative, and efficient cosmetic standards framework.
- Focuses on raw material safety, evaluation methods, and emerging technologies.
- Strengthens mandatory national safety standards.
Deepens Regulatory Science Research:
- Leverages regulatory science innovation research bases.
- Prioritizes safety assessment, innovative products, ingredients, and risk early warning.
- Promotes transformation of scientific research into new regulatory tools, standards, and methods.
Strengthen Regulatory Informatization:
- Expands digital supervision across all regulatory activities.
- Upgrades the NMPA mobile app for frontline regulators and public education.
- Enhances data governance, AI applications, and intelligent transformation across provinces.
Promote Alignment of Cosmetic Regulation with International Practices
Deepening International Exchange and Cooperation:
- Participate in international regulatory coordination and technical document in the development.
- Tracks global regulatory trends and encourages mutual recognition.
- Supports international expansion of domestic cosmetic brands.
Enhancing International Standardization:
- Accelerates the adoption of globally recognized standards.
- Actively participate in and promote the research and deveolpment of international standards to strengthen China’s influence and voice in the global cosmetic standards arena.
Accelerate the Exemption of Animal Testing:
- Implements the 3Rs (Reduction, Replacement, and Refinement).
- Begins with categories such as perm products, non-oxidative hair dyes, and cosmetics containing new ingredients under monitoring periods, and gradually implement exemptions from animal testing.
- Promote the development and adoption of alternative methods.
Optimize the Management Mechanism for Permitted Ingredients:
- Establishes a dynamic update mechanism for preservatives, UV filters, colorants, hair dyes, and more.
- Enables timely inclusion of internationally accepted safety-evaluated ingredients.
The NMPA's Official Interpretation of the Opinions, covers:
- The background of the Opinions
- The main considerations and structure
- Innovation support mechanisms
- Approaches to meeting new public consumption needs
- New safety measures and bottom-line requirements
- Development of standards system
- Enhancing international alignment
- Improving governance capacity
Link to the full text (in Chinese): https://www.nmpa.gov.cn/xxgk/zhcjd/zhcjdhzhp/20251117143806126.html
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This article was updated on November 20, 2025, to improve readability.