E China's Pingdu produces 70 percent of world's false eyelashes

A foreign visitor tries on false eyelashes in Pingdu, a county-level city in east China's Shandong Province known as "China's capital of false eyelashes". (Photo courtesy of the publicity department of the Communist Party of China Pingdu municipal committee)

At least 7 out of every 10 pairs of false eyelashes consumed worldwide come from Pingdu, a county-level city in east China's Shandong Province.

Known as "China's capital of false eyelashes", the city boasts a false eyelash industry with an annual output value of approximately 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion). It exports around 120 million pairs of false eyelashes to countries such as Japan, South Korea, the United States, and European countries each year.

The false eyelash industry in Pingdu can be traced back to the 1970s, when foreign companies investing in factories in the city brought the technologies for false eyelash production.

In 1976, the first false eyelash processing factory, run by a local village collective, was established in Pingdu's Dazeshan township, marking the beginning of the city's false eyelash industry. It gradually spread to more areas and grew into a full-fledged industrial chain encompassing semi-finished product processing, finished product production, and the manufacturing of relevant processing tools.

Photo shows various types of false eyelashes produced in Pingdu, a county-level city in east China's Shandong Province known as "China's capital of false eyelashes". (Photo courtesy of the publicity department of the Communist Party of China Pingdu municipal committee)

After more than 40 years of development, Pingdu has formed a beauty and false eyelash industry cluster covering areas such as Dazeshan township, Jiudian township, and Xinhe township, and the false eyelash industry has become one of the pillar industries driving local economic growth.

In October 2021, the China National Light Industry Council and the China Association of Fragrance, Flavour and Cosmetic Industries awarded Pingdu the honorary title of "China's capital of beauty products (eyelashes) industry - Pingdu."

The honorary title represents an official recognition for Pingdu's position as "China's capital of false eyelashes" and a barometer that leads the false eyelash industry in China and even globally.

Today, the city is home to nearly 5,000 companies that process false eyelash products and over 20,000 processing sites for relevant products.

A worker makes false eyelash products in Pingdu, a county-level city in east China's Shandong Province known as "China's capital of false eyelashes". (Photo courtesy of the publicity department of the Communist Party of China Pingdu municipal committee)

With these businesses underpinning Pingdu's reputation as "China's capital of false eyelashes", the city's false eyelash industry provides employment for nearly 60,000 people from local communities, playing an important role in increasing the income of local residents and driving the economic development of the city.

The development of the false eyelash industry in Pingdu city is currently showing a trend toward intensification and intelligence.

In an effort to further boost the development of the industry, Pingdu city has established two industrial parks and two production and processing bases, systematically promoting the modernization of its false eyelash industry.

Photo shows various types of false eyelashes displayed at the Qingdao beauty online new economic industrial park in Pingdu, a county-level city in east China's Shandong Province known as "China's capital of false eyelashes". (Photo courtesy of the publicity department of the Communist Party of China Pingdu municipal committee)

Qingdao beauty online new economic industrial park, as the core of Pingdu's efforts to support the development of the eyelash industry, covers an area of 308.5 mu (about 20.57 hectares) and is equipped with facilities for business operation and the exhibition of beauty products, incubation and training, logistics services, as well as intensive workshops, high-rise innovation workshops, and a mass innovation block.

"We can provide companies with services that facilitate various links of the entire industrial chain, including raw material procurement, brand building, product research and development, logistics and warehousing, as well as exhibition," said Guo Hu, general manager of the industrial park and head of the Pingdu Beauty Eyelash Association.

He said that the industrial park will help promote the healthy and sustainable development of the false eyelash industry in Pingdu by transforming the upstream, midstream, and downstream processes of the industrial chain.

A worker packages false eyelash products in Pingdu, a county-level city in east China's Shandong Province known as "China's capital of false eyelashes". (Photo courtesy of the publicity department of the Communist Party of China Pingdu municipal committee)

The industrial park will make efforts to upgrade raw materials to achieve localized production, collaborate with research institutes to carry out intelligent transformations of machinery and equipment, and provide training and incubation services for enterprise tenants by introducing e-commerce platforms, according to Guo.

The establishment of the two industrial parks and two production and processing bases is just one step in Pingdu's efforts to drive the development of the local false eyelash industry.

A foreign visitor tries on false eyelashes in Pingdu, a county-level city in east China's Shandong Province known as "China's capital of false eyelashes". (Photo courtesy of the publicity department of the Communist Party of China Pingdu municipal committee)

In recent years, the city has rolled out many favorable policies and measures, established industry association, set up leading groups, and hosted exhibitions to guide, support, empower, and pool resources for the development of the local false eyelash industry, effectively ushering the industry into a new stage of sound and rapid development.

"People's pursuit of beauty will not diminish. The future prospects for false eyelashes will only get better, and the market will only grow larger," said Guo, who is filled with confidence and anticipation for the future of Pingdu's false eyelash industry.