Distributing in China: although it may be difficult to believe, China is getting bigger. The Chinese cosmetics market is more powerful and influential than ever before, and the challenge to cosmetics companies is to move products and materials back and forth in a streamlined, effective way that will not be bogged down by politics, customs issues, QC problems, crime or loss.(SUPPLY chain)

Global Cosmetic Industry, April, 2008 by Kaye, Simon

The Chinese market has become the eighth largest in the world and the second biggest in Asia. Better distribution channels are crisscrossing China every day, and leading indicators show that the antiaging, skin care and sunscreen markets will continue to expand and strengthen. Western products have tremendous weight in China, and as the market evolves, strong distribution networks will become absolutely vital to ensuring that products reach their targets.

Electronic tracking heuristics and taking advantage of already-established connections that people in the freight-forwarding industry have will become not an option but a necessity. When dealing with a market with as much tremendous potential as China, creating the groundwork now will lead to far fewer...