Male cosmetic surgery in China: men seek treatment to help get a job, find a date, or feel more confident

Hair transplants, eye bag removal, acne treatment and dental work are the procedures most commonly requested by men

Men make up 15 per cent of China’s US$70 billion-a-year aesthetic medicine industry, and more young men every year are getting treatments

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Chinese males are becoming more open to getting cosmetic surgery. Men make up 15 per cent of China’s US$70 billion aesthetic medicine industry. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 3:00pm, 21 Aug 2019Updated: 3:03pm, 21 Aug 2019

Since Zhao Hongshan’s first procedure – a dermal filler injection to soften wrinkles four years ago – he has spent around 80,000 yuan (US$11,000) on his face, including eyelid surgery.

“Getting cosmetic procedures is just as normal as body building. Both make men more handsome and confident,” says the 33-year-old, who owns a gym in Beijing.

Zhao is among a growing number of Chinese men using surgical and non-surgical procedures to change their physical appearance to boost their self-confidence or give them an edge.

In 2018, the market for aesthetic medicine in China was worth more than 495 billion yuan, with males accounting for around 15 per cent of customers, according to a report by cosmetic surgery social networking app Gengmei, whose name means “more beautiful” in Chinese.

Liu Di (right) and the website of his Chinese mobile phone app, Gengmei, which already has five million users.

“Around 20 per cent of my patients are men. Some want to remove acne and look better in wedding pictures, while others troubled by baldness hope to look younger through hair transplants,” says Zhang Hui, a dermatologist with a Beijing-based private cosmetic hospital.