City establishes fund to boost 'green' beauty industry

A special fund to promote low-carbon awareness in beauty products via the creation of a scientific evaluation and labeling system was announced on Monday.

It is part of the city's strategy to cut carbon emissions and is expected to boost the sustainable upgrading of the beauty industry in China.

As the first public welfare fund in the low-carbon and green consumption field in China, it will raise health and safety awareness of consumers about the ingredients of their beauty products.

It will also encourage the industry to be more open and transparent with consumers on healthy and safe, low-carbon and green beauty products, the Shanghai Consumer Council said.

Tang Jiansheng, deputy secretary-general of the council and director general of the Shanghai Consumer Foundation, said the move was to make consumers more conscious and selective about the beauty products they buy.

"There are many discussions on the ingredients of beauty products online, however, quite a number are misleading or lop-sided," Tang said.

Consumers will be helped to learn more about science to improve their knowledge and understanding about the products they are buying.

The special fund was set up by the Shanghai Consumer Foundation, which was established by the Shanghai Consumer Council last month, and L'Oreal China.

A survey by consumer councils in the Yangtze River Delta found that 90.1 percent of respondents expressed support for low-carbon and green products. And 87.3 percent said they had no idea to choose environmentally friendly products.

"A knowledge base for ingredients of beauty products will be established under the special fund with the academic circle and industry insiders giving advice to consumers," said Tang.

The Shanghai Consumer Foundation is providing financial support for public interest litigation, testing and monitoring product quality and undertaking research on the protection of consumer rights.