Shanghai, China. Evonik has opened its first center for beauty science and innovation in Asia at the Evonik Shanghai Innovation Park in China. The Asia Beauty Science & Innovation Center integrates biotechnology‑driven ingredient innovation and formulation expertise with consumer‑relevant testing and validation capabilities. This allows the center to support beauty and personal care brands in China and across Asia through more diversified, collaborative development models, accelerating innovation in next‑generation cosmetic solutions.
China is the world’s second-largest cosmetics market and is experiencing rapid growth with intensifying competition. Evonik is expanding its locally developed and manufactured beauty portfolio and investing in advanced innovation capabilities. This will help customers differentiate their brands and meet evolving consumer expectations.
“Innovation in beauty today is increasingly global and interconnected. With our new center in Shanghai, we complement our leading global position, extensive expertise and broad portfolio, while deepening our presence in a market that is setting the pace for many global beauty trends,” said Ute Schick, head of the Care Solutions business line at Evonik.
Evonik’s Asia Beauty Science & Innovation Center serves as an integrated hub with several complementary facilities:
- Asia RD&I Platform enables cross‑functional RD&I activities from molecular design to industrial scale‑up. Its capabilities span enzymatic esterification, polyglycerol ester development, and end‑to‑end functional ingredient innovation, further strengthened through strategic partnerships with selected external collaborators to accelerate biotechnology advancement.
- Asia Personal Care Applied Innovation Lab works closely with brands across skincare, cleansing, hair care, sun care, and color cosmetics. The lab supports the full development journey from trend insights and formulation design to prototyping, stability assessment, sensory evaluation, efficacy testing, and scientific communication, advancing the translation of concepts into ready‑to‑use solutions.
- The Chinese lab of the global Evonik Skin Institute is dedicated to understanding and addressing the unique characteristics of Asian skin. Built on a strong customer‑centric foundation, the institute leverages high‑throughput screening, advanced 3D skin models, clinical study design, state‑of‑the‑art skin imaging, and biomarker analysis to deliver robust efficacy substantiation and credible product claims.
- The Customer Experience Center is a multifunctional space designed to enhance customer engagement and interaction. It provides a platform for solution demonstrations, scientific communication co‑creation, and the exploration of more flexible and collaborative partnership models.
“This new center brings together multiple innovation capabilities in one place. In a fast-evolving and highly competitive market like China, this integrated approach allows us to translate scientific insights into market-ready solutions with greater speed and precision. Our center reinforces Shanghai’s position as a key innovation hub within Evonik’s global R&D network,” said Fuliang Xia, President of Evonik Greater China.
Evonik Beauty & Personal Care is part of the company’s Care Solutions business line, dedicated to empowering brands to confidently create eco-friendly products that elevate consumer health and well-being. The business unites expertise across skin, hair, scalp, active ingredients, delivery systems, product protection, and more, working passionately to deliver tailored, sustainable solutions that bridge the gap between performance and responsibility.
