The Ministry of Commerce recently released a notice, asking local governments to improve the management of the beauty and hairdressing industry and guide the industry to set up a "blacklist" mechanism to punish illegal companies.

The notice said that China's beauty and hairdressing industry has experienced rapid development in the past 20 years, a process during which much illegal activity has stymied further development.

It called on local commercial departments to work out plans forthe industry, encourage the setting up of chainstore beauty parlors, and guide companies in improving self-discipline and providing trustworthy service.

Presently, China has nearly 1.6 million beauty parlors, employing 9.4 million people and reporting business incomes of 176.2 billion yuan (approximately 21.5 billion US dollars). The industry has seen an annual growth rate of 15 percent.

But in the meantime, statistics from the China Consumer Association and the China Beauty and Hairdressing Association showthat in the past ten years, more than 200,000 disputes involving beauty parlors have been reported, in which nearly 300,000 people have been injured to various degrees by illegal or improper operations in the beauty salons.

To put the industry on a healthy developmental track, the Ministry of Commerce issued a temporary regulation on the management on the industry in November 2004. In addition, the ministry is trying to promulgate detailed standards for the industry.

Source: Xinhua