A Comprehensive Analysis of 2025 New Cosmetic Ingredient Filing and Registration Data

Since the formal implementation of the Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Cosmetics in 2021, the registration and filing system for new cosmetic ingredients has been in operation for nearly four years. As of December 31, 2025, a cumulative total of 377 new ingredients have been registered or filed, covering multiple categories such as plant extracts, synthetic peptides, fermentation products, biotechnological ingredients, specialty oils and fats, and high-molecular polymers. This signifies that China's cosmetic ingredient innovation has entered a stage of rapid, standardized, and diversified development.

Through the management of the "Safety Monitoring Period," the registration and filing system encourages innovation while ensuring safety, gradually forming a virtuous cycle of "registration/filing – monitoring – inclusion in the inventory."

This article systematically analyzes the registration and filing of new cosmetic ingredients in 2025 from multiple perspectives, including quantitative changes, ingredient types, outcomes of monitoring periods, and trend assessments.

New Ingredients Filing Data 2025

In 2025, a total of 169 new cosmetic ingredients were filed nationwide. Compared to the annual total of 90 items in 2024, this represents a year-on-year growth of approximately 87.8%. On average, over 14 new filings were added per month—an increase of about 7 items per month compared to the 2024 monthly average. Relative to the total annual filings in 2021, this reflects a growth rate of 2716.7%.

Year	Number of New Ingredient Filings
2021	6
2022	42
2023	69
2024	91
2025	169

What warrants closer attention, however, is the shifting pace underlying this rapid growth in new ingredient numbers. During the initial phase of the system's implementation from 2021–2022, companies generally faced issues such as unclear understanding, difficult cost estimation, and a lack of reference cases. Filings were mostly tentative attempts, primarily concentrated among enterprises with strong compliance capabilities. By 2023–2024, with the advancement of the first batch of projects and the gradual clarification of review logic, companies realized that new ingredient registration was not an "unattainable goal" but a manageable, plannable compliance pathway.

By 2025, annual filings surpassed 160 items, reflecting that new ingredients had been integrated into companies' long-term internal strategies, and the industry had accumulated a body of successful cases for reference. Multiple factors collectively propelled new ingredients from being policy-driven innovations to becoming a routine, foundational aspect of the cosmetics industry.

Geographical Distribution of New Ingredient Filings

From the perspective of the filing entities, in the 2025 new ingredient filings, domestic enterprises accounted for approximately 89%, while overseas enterprises accounted for about 11%.

In recent years, a shift has emerged among domestic ingredient suppliers and cosmetic brands: they are no longer limited to developing formulations based on existing ingredients. Instead, they have begun to think in reverse—questioning "whether a proprietary ingredient is needed"—positioning new ingredients as a crucial component for product differentiation and building technological barriers. Particularly in areas such as plant extracts and bio-fermented ingredients, local companies have established advantages through faster response times and stronger cost-control capabilities.

While the number of filings by overseas companies is lower than that of domestic companies, their filing strategies exhibit distinct characteristics. The filed ingredients are often key components within established ingredient systems; they place greater emphasis on long-term compliance value rather than short-term market exploration; and filings are typically closely tied to their product planning within the Chinese market. This indicates that the Chinese market's position in global ingredient strategies is steadily rising and has become an indispensable part of the equation.

  Hotspots in New Ingredient Types

Based on ingredient names and usage characteristics, we have categorized the 376 newly filed ingredients, which mainly include:

- Organic acids and their derivatives

- Plant extracts

- Peptide-based ingredients

- Sugars/Polysaccharides

- Silicone-based ingredients

- Others...

Over the past four years, the evolution of cosmetic ingredient hotspots reflects shifts in R&D and market directions. Early ingredients such as N-acetylneuraminic acid and lauroyl alanine represented the industry's initial exploration into cutting-edge fields like biomanufacturing, and their successful filings boosted industry confidence. Subsequently, bakuchiol and NMN became hotspots in the anti-aging sector, filed over 8 and 12 times respectively, propelling the industry into a phase of focused efficacy R&D, though this also led to a degree of homogenization.

In recent years, plant-derived ingredients from Yunnan, represented by multiply-filed extracts like "golden ear mushroom", have emerged as a new focus, indicating that the spotlight has shifted toward the development of distinctive regional resources. Related companies such as Betaine are leveraging this to build unique ingredient barriers and enhance competitiveness.

  2025 New Ingredients Registration Data

The new Ingredients registration system, serving as another crucial pathway for innovation, is primarily applied to ingredients with higher safety risks, such as those claiming specific efficacy claims like sun protection or spot-removing/whitening. These are subject to stricter management under the "registration-based system." To date, the number of new ingredients approved through registration remains relatively low, totaling 3 items. This reflects the system's inherent characteristics of demanding higher standards for safety and efficacy evidence.

Standard Chinese Name	INCI Name/English Name	Filing Number	Filer (Chinese)	Filing Date
异丁酰胺基噻唑基间苯二酚	THIAMIDOL	国妆原注字20240001	拜尔斯道夫德国总部	2024/11/1
二甲氧基甲苯丙基间苯二酚	DIMETHOXYTOLYL PROPYLRESORCINOL‌	国妆原注字20250001	优旎真公司	2025/10/30
2-(4'-偶氮-苯胺聚氧乙烯醚)-4-甲基苯并噻唑基水性聚氨酯	2-(4'-AZO-PHENYLENEOXYETHYLENE)-4-METHYLBENZOTHIAZOLYL AQUEOUS POLYURETHANE‌	国妆原注字20250002	北京尚捷优蓝科技有限公司	2025/10/30

Among them, two ingredients focusing on the efficacy of "spot removal and whitening"—Thiazolyl Resorcinol and Dimethoxytolyl Propylresorcinol—were submitted by the overseas companies Beiersdorf and Unigen, respectively. Meanwhile, an ingredient used for "coloring", Polyurethane-n (specifically, 2-(4'-azo-aniline polyoxyethylene ether)-4-methylbenzothiazolyl waterborne polyurethane), was registered by the domestic company Beijing Shangjie Youlan Technology. This demonstrates that both international brands and local enterprises are actively seeking breakthroughs in product innovation through this high-standard pathway.

New Ingredients Deregistered in 2025

The practice of the past four years has demonstrated the success of the institutional design combining the "registration and filing system" for new ingredients with the "safety monitoring period," forming a virtuous cycle. Compared with previous regulations, the new system has significantly shortened the average time to market for ingredients, serving as the core driver behind the rapid growth in registration and filing numbers.

The three-year monitoring period acts as a dual filter for both "safety" and "market viability." By the end of 2025, several ingredients had been deregistered or had their filings cancelled for various reasons, achieving a proactive purification of the market.

7 Deregistered New Ingredients 

Standard Chinese Name	INCI Name/English Name	Filing Number	Filer (Chinese)	Filing Date	Cancellation Date
海参肽	SEA CUCUMBER PEPTIDE	国妆原备字20220008	西安惠普生物科技有限公司	2023/12/18	2024/11/25
α-葡聚糖羟丙基三甲基氯化铵	HYDROXYPROPYLTRIMONIUM CHLORIDE	国妆原备字20230004	国际香料集团公司	2023/12/7	2024/11/25
黑参提取物	BLACK GINSENG EXTRACT	国妆原备字20230012	湖南水羊生物科技有限公司	2023/10/25	2024/11/25
半乳甘露聚糖	GALACTOMANNAN	国妆原备字20230025	北京瓜尔润科技股份有限公司	2023/7/10	2024/9/13
α-葡聚糖多糖	ALPHA-GLUCAN	国妆原备字20230042	国际香料集团公司	2023/4/7	2024/8/22
水解α-葡聚糖多糖	HYDROLYZED ALPHA-GLUCAN	国妆原备字20230058	国际香料集团公司	2023/2/7	2024/9/13
水解透明质酸锌	HYDROLYZED HYALURONIC ACID ZINC	国妆原备字20230064	华熙生物科技股份有限公司	2022/4/20	2024/8/22

Ingredients Incorporated into the Inventory of Used Cosmetic Ingredients in 2025

At the same time, a total of 114 new ingredients remain within the monitoring period. Among these, the first batch of ingredients, such as β-Alanyl Hydroxyproline Diaminobutyl Benzylamine, have seen 5 ingredients successfully complete monitoring and be incorporated into the Inventory of Used Cosmetic Ingredients.

New Ingredients Incorporated into the Inventory of Used Cosmetic Ingredients

Standard Chinese Name	INCI Name/English Name	Filing Number	Filer (Chinese)	Filing Date
N-乙酰神经氨酸	N-ACETYLNEURAMINIC ACID	国妆原备字20210001	武汉中科光谷绿色生物技术有限公司	2021/6/25
月桂酰丙氨酸	LAUROYL ALANINE	国妆原备字20210002	苏州维美生物科技有限公司	2021/6/25
β-丙氨酰羟脯氨酰二氨基丁酸苄胺	DIAMINOBUTYRYL BENZYLAMIDE DIPEPTIDE-Β-ALANYL-HYDROXYPROLINE	国妆原备字20210003	深圳市维琪医药研发有限公司	2021/8/6
聚甲基倍半硅氧烷/三甲基硅烷氧基硅酸酯	POLYMETHYLSILSESQUIOXANE / TRIMETHYLSILOXYSILICATE	国妆原备字20220003	格苒特工业公司	2022/1/25
双-鲸蜡硬脂基氨端聚二甲基硅氧烷	BIS-CETEARYL AMODIMETHICONE	国妆原备字20220005	迈图（上海）贸易有限公司	2022/2/23

From 2021 to 2025, the number of registered and filed new cosmetic ingredients has shown leapfrog growth, significantly reflecting the industry's vigorous innovative vitality and increasingly fierce market competition. Currently, the registration and filing of new cosmetic ingredients have entered a second phase centered on quality enhancement and technological deepening. To maintain a competitive edge in the future, enterprises must closely follow market trends and regulatory guidance, effectively translating innovative achievements into market-competitive product solutions.

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