Hair transplants quickly growing roots across nation

China's hair transplant industry is expanding and upgrading as people's awareness of hair aesthetics increases and they have a willingness to pay for personal appearance, according to industry experts and business leaders.

Demand from small cities and the younger generations is expected to pick up due to growing awareness, they said.

Yonghe Medical Group Co Ltd, the largest hair transplant clinic chain in the country by revenue, experienced fast expansion last year despite headwinds from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Beijing-headquartered company opened nine hair transplant clinics and six haircare centers in 2023. Furthermore, a total of 17 hair transplant clinics are expected to kick off operations this year, increasing the number of its clinics to no less than 80 by the end of the year.

According to Zhang Yu, chairman and CEO of Yonghe Medical Group, the general population is becoming increasingly aware of hair transplantation as an alternative to treat hair loss and improve appearance.

"In the past, many believed that the recipients of hair transplant procedures are so-called white-collar workers, but that has changed," Zhang said, adding that nowadays everyone is willing to pay for better appearances, and blue-collar workers have become important customers in the industry.

Under such circumstances, the company has changed its charging model of the procedures — from pricing in accordance with each patient's total number of transplanted hair follicles to offering a fixed price range based on the level of each doctor's clinical experience, in a bid to attract more customers.

Already having more than 300 full-time physicians and more than 900 nurses, the company is currently upgrading operation tactics to improve services, Zhang said.

Citing data from the National Health Commission, a recent report by Chinese tech media 36Kr's research institute said that more than 250 million people in China experience hair loss and among them, about 42 percent are aged between 26 to 30.

Cao Hu, global partner of Kotler Marketing Group, or KMG, said as consumers become more aware of the importance of healthy hair for a nice appearance, the demand for hair transplants has been booming not only in first-tier but also in smaller cities.

He expects China's hair transplant market to value at around 70 billion yuan ($10.1 billion) by 2030, or more than double the current level.

"The hair transplant industry in China is very promising because of the potential demand in lower-tier regions and among young people," Cao said.

Ren Jian, chief growth officer of Yonghe Medical Group, agreed that hair transplant demand has been growing across the entire country.

Apart from hair transplants, hair loss prevention and treatment and other haircare services are gaining momentum, spurring the development of a complete haircare services industry in China, according to Cao.

Zhang, with Yonghe Medical Group, said the company is keen to expand its presence in non-invasive haircare services.

However, Cao, who is also CEO of KMG's China arm, said that to better tap the great potential in the hair loss-related services industry, service providers need to upgrade their current business models that rely heavily on marketing to acquire customers.

Upgrading services to better meet new needs and preferences in niche markets is a more ideal growth path for those market players, he said.