Start-up presents new and improved face of China’s maligned cosmetic beauty industry
Mobile phone app Gengmei, which links mainland users with doctors and plastic surgeons, hopes to have 20 million customers by the end of the year
Sky-high prices, risky operations, dodgy sales staff and frequent complaints from customers involving China’s plastic surgery industry were common before Liu Di launched his start-up company two years ago.
“To many people, it was very much a swindlers’ industry,” said Liu, 32, founder of Gengmei – which literally means “more beautiful” – mainland China’s first mobile application that links users directly with doctors and surgeons working in the cosmetic beauty industry.
“If you search online for keywords like ‘plastic surgery’, you will find mostly negative news, such as someone suing a hospital over a failed operation or someone that has been left disfigured by dodgy beauty treatment.”
Despite the industry’s poor reputation, demand for such services in China is growing rapidly.
The International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, a global body formed of plastic surgeons around the world, said China was the third largest international market for the industry after the United States and South Korea. Last year China’s plastic surgery industry, which now has more than 7.4 million clients, was worth 510 billion yuan (HK$645 billion).
Such figures caught the attention of Liu, a Beijing-born start-up entrepreneur, who sensed the potential of huge business opportunities in the sector.