BEIJING, 3 August 2026 — China is seeking to attract more international cosmetics brands to launch new products in the Chinese market first, or simultaneously with other countries, by removing regulatory documentation requirements that previously complicated such launches.
The National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) introduced the change under Announcement No. 70 of 2026, issued on 28 July and published on 29 July 2026. Effective upon publication, the measure is part of a broader initiative to simplify cosmetics registration and notification procedures and improve market access for new products.
The reform could influence how international cosmetics companies plan global product launches, particularly those developing products specifically for Chinese consumers or seeking to introduce new formulations across several markets at once.
Removing a Barrier to China-First Product Launches
Under China's previous cosmetics registration and notification requirements, imported products generally had to provide evidence that they were already marketed in the registrant's or notifier's home country or the country or region of manufacture, subject to existing exceptions.
For international brands, this requirement created an additional procedural hurdle when introducing products that had not yet been sold overseas. Companies planning simultaneous launches or developing products specifically for China had to address the absence of an established overseas marketing history.
Announcement No. 70 introduces a simplified alternative. Qualifying imported cosmetics intended for their first launch in China, or for simultaneous introduction in China and other markets, may submit a declaration committing to the China-first launch instead of overseas marketing evidence.
The NMPA will also accept packaging design artwork in place of finalized overseas sales packaging, giving manufacturers greater flexibility to prepare regulatory submissions while their international product launches are still being finalized.
These changes address two practical challenges for international manufacturers: demonstrating prior overseas marketing status and providing packaging documentation for products that have not yet entered commercial distribution.
Expanded Exemptions From Toxicological Testing Reports
The announcement also expands the categories of cosmetics eligible for exemption from submitting product toxicological testing reports, including certain products previously subject to more extensive registration requirements.
The additional categories are:
Hair perming products.
Non-oxidative hair dyes.
Freckle-removing and whitening products that achieve their effects solely through physical coverage.
General cosmetics containing new cosmetic ingredients, excluding children's cosmetics.
To qualify for the exemption from submitting toxicological testing reports, manufacturers must provide government-issued documentation confirming their production quality management qualifications and demonstrate the product's safety through an adequate safety risk assessment. Products that do not meet these conditions remain subject to the applicable testing report requirements.
These provisions could be particularly significant for international manufacturers seeking to introduce products without submitting animal-based toxicological testing reports. However, the exemption applies to the submission of specified reports and does not remove the underlying obligation to establish product safety.
Shared Safety and Efficacy Testing for Similar Products
Manufacturers will also be able to reuse certain testing reports across products with closely related formulations, reducing the need to conduct separate studies for every product variation.
Under the new provisions, products under the same brand and registrant or notifier may share microbiological, physicochemical, toxicological, and human safety testing reports when they meet specified formulation similarity criteria.
Products must have the same physical form, such as a cream, lotion, or gel, and similar usage. Formulation differences are limited to colorants, fragrances, pH adjusters, polymeric thickeners, and pearlescent agents and corresponding adjustments to solvents or fillers. All other ingredients and their concentrations must remain unchanged.
Where products are manufactured at different facilities, microbiological and physicochemical testing must still be conducted using representative products from each site. Toxicological and human safety testing reports may be shared.
The NMPA has introduced a separate arrangement for sharing efficacy testing data. Qualifying products may rely on efficacy results from a representative product, supported by an equivalence assessment demonstrating that the findings apply to the other formulations.
The efficacy criteria also permit differences in preservative types and concentrations, making them somewhat broader than those governing shared safety testing.
Products claiming freckle-removing or whitening, sun protection, or anti-hair-loss effects remain subject to specific efficacy documentation requirements during registration.
The announcement also allows manufacturers to use industry standards, international standards, technical guidelines, or validated in-house methods to substantiate other efficacy claims, provided the methods have sufficient scientific support.
Ingredient Safety Documentation Requirements Simplified
Cosmetics and toothpaste manufacturers will no longer be required to routinely enter ingredient safety information documents or ingredient submission codes into the regulatory system.
Instead, registrants and notifiers generally need only identify the ingredient manufacturer and retain supporting safety documentation for regulatory inspection. The NMPA will also discontinue public disclosure of ingredient submission codes.
The change reduces the information that companies must submit during registration or notification, although ingredient safety records must remain available.
Where China's Safety and Technical Standards for Cosmetics or other applicable technical documents prescribe ingredient quality requirements, companies must still submit the relevant specifications or testing reports.
Changes involving ingredient manufacturers or quality specifications for existing registered or notified products also remain subject to applicable update or amendment procedures.
Manufacturing Transfers and Changes to Domestic Responsible Persons
Announcement No. 70 introduces additional measures to simplify regulatory procedures when cosmetics manufacturers reorganize production or change their Chinese regulatory representatives.
Companies transferring production between China and overseas facilities, or adding manufacturers in either location, may reuse existing toxicological testing, human safety testing, safety assessment, and efficacy evaluation reports.
To qualify, the registrant or notifier, product name, and formula must remain unchanged, and the applicable product standards must not undergo substantive changes.
New microbiological and physicochemical testing remains mandatory, together with submission of the original registration certificate or notification documentation.
The announcement also simplifies the process for foreign manufacturers changing their domestic responsible person, the China-based entity authorized to fulfill specified regulatory responsibilities for imported products.
Previously, companies were required to provide a consent letter bearing the outgoing representative's official seal or a qualifying court judgment.
Those documents are no longer required. Companies must instead provide the original authorization letter and its notarized original, a list of affected products, and a commitment from the incoming representative to assume the outgoing entity's responsibilities, including those concerning products already on the market.
The simplified procedures also apply to toothpaste.
Together, these measures address several practical obstacles faced by international cosmetics manufacturers, from introducing new products and managing formulation variations to relocating production and changing regulatory representatives. Their significance lies in allowing companies to reduce duplicate submissions and testing while continuing to meet China's applicable product safety requirements.