Change more than cosmetic in Shenzhen

Retailers in shopping area famous for electronics shift to beauty products

The past 15 years have brought significant changes to Huaqiang North Street in Shenzhen, where electronics vendors have changed their long-standing business model as the nation has grown to become the world's major consumer market.

In a small shop on Huaqiang North Street - an area known locally and nationally as a shopping paradise for electronic products - a vendor is surrounded by packaging, but rather than the latest Apple smartphones or bizarre gadgets. It contains something quite different.

Huaqiang North, tucked away in one of the city's most popular commercial enclaves has emerged from a massive four-year face-lift offering cosmetics and skin care products.

Facial masks, creams, lotions and lipsticks have squeezed out handsets, tablets and laptops at five markets along Huaqiang North Street and the transformation is by no means complete.

The change under way in Shenzhen points to the opposite growth trends facing the two industries nationwide. Experts say Huaqiang North is on the right track in its new pursuit of prosperity, but its reputation for shanzhai - counterfeit consumer goods - has overshadowed its development.

Ming Tong Commercial City - a marketplace housing more than 4,000 shops - started the area's transformation.

Opened in 2005, the complex used to be China's largest trading center for communication devices in terms of scale. But, with the exponential advent of e-commerce and sluggish sales of digital devices, slumping profits forced many tenants to shut up shop.

The downturn spread to other shopping precincts along the street. According to a Shenzhen Evening News report, rents at SEG Electronics Market - one of the district's most popular markets - were reduced four times in 2016.

The dramatic fall forced Ming Tong Commercial City to make an abrupt turn in 2017 to focus on cosmetics following a thorough market investigation and survey.