Inland hubs in Henan province have emerged as dominant forces in the global beauty tools market, supplying the bulk of the world’s makeup brushes and wigs from locations far removed from traditional fashion centers. Luyi County and the nearby city of Xuchang together serve as critical manufacturing clusters, underpinning significant shares of international trade in these products.

Luyi accounts for more than 85 percent of the global supply of synthetic fibers used in makeup brushes and produces over 90 percent of China’s exported makeup brushes. Meanwhile, Xuchang is home to more than 4,000 companies involved in wig production, responsible for at least 60 percent of wigs sold worldwide. These two areas exemplify the shift in China’s inland manufacturing sector from basic processing and contract work to high-value activities such as brand development, patent registration, direct online sales, and establishing overseas warehouses.

The industry foundations in both locations are rooted in long regional traditions. Luyi’s makeup brush sector traces back to the late 1970s when villagers began exploiting the export potential of sheep tail hair. Xuchang’s hair products industry, by contrast, has historical origins dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), when local tradespeople collected human hair for theatrical costumes. By the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), local merchants were exporting processed hair to Europe, aided by partnerships with German traders.

Despite their longstanding industrial know-how and scale, companies in these regions traditionally focused on supplying semifinished goods or manufacturing for foreign brands rather than creating consumer-facing labels. Recent years have seen concerted efforts to close this gap.

In Luyi, local government initiatives launched in 2016—including the establishment of an industrial park, rent-free factory leases, subsidized loans, and a provincial quality inspection center—have encouraged entrepreneurs to return from coastal cities. One notable example is Huang Chunjie, chairman of Dias. After years of exporting lash materials from Yiwu, Huang returned to Luyi, pivoting from raw-material sales to developing his own brand of mid- to high-end makeup brushes and beauty sponges for overseas markets. Dias now operates direct sales channels in Europe, supports an overseas warehouse in Germany, and leverages China-Europe freight trains to speed product delivery. The company’s annual output has exceeded 70 million yuan (around $10.35 million), with exports accounting for more than 70 percent of sales.

Luyi’s competitive ecosystem includes over 1,000 related enterprises, with a local supply-chain matching rate surpassing 95 percent. Production reaches 150 million sets of high-end makeup brushes annually, distributed through trade fairs, sea freight, rail connections, and e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba, Amazon, and TikTok.

Xuchang’s ascent stems less from government industrial parks and more from advances in material technology, skilled labor, and innovation. Historically dependent on imported high-end hair fibers, many local wig manufacturers produced for foreign labels. This dynamic shifted when Rebecca, the first publicly listed hair-products company in China, developed multifunctional synthetic fibers resembling natural human hair, closing a significant domestic technology gap.

“From relying on imports to mastering core materials, companies have gained more pricing room,” said Chen Yong, an administrative manager at Rebecca. Beyond materials, Xuchang supports nearly 300,000 jobs across more than 4,000 companies, offering close to 3,000 hair product varieties. Production remains labor-intensive; a hand-woven wig from Rebecca’s workshops can take over a day to make, with some requiring more than 10,000 stitches.

Tian Liangjun, vice president of Xuchang’s hair products association, emphasized the cluster’s competitive advantages. “Control over raw materials, accumulated craftsmanship and technological catch-up have together given Xuchang a unique position in the global wig supply chain,” he said.

Together, Luyi and Xuchang exemplify a broader trend of inland Chinese manufacturing centers moving beyond commoditized production towards building global brands and upgrading along the value chain in the beauty sector.