Plant Filings Overtake Chemical Ones, and Herbal Claims Lose Their Free Pass

*MZ Toutiao (美妆头条) · 2026-10-08 · Ingredients / Policy* **原文：** 从“讲故事”到“讲证据”，AI时代中草药护肤如何突围？ Speaking at the fourth Chinese herbal technology and cosmetics forum in Tianjin, MZ Toutiao chairman Zhang Bingwu put a number on the shift: more than 500 new cosmetic ingredients have been filed since the registration regime began in 2021, plant-derived filings were zero in the first year, and in the first half of 2026 they overtook chemical ingredients for the first time. The panel — Botanee vice-president Wang Feifei, Kangaroo Mom chief science officer Yan Erping, Inoherb R&D director Gu Jie and Huanya's He Jingyu — largely agreed that concept-driven herbal claims no longer sell. Botanee's answer has been institutional: a Yunnan provincial laboratory run with Yunnan University and Yunnan Agricultural University since 2021, and a specialty-plant team of about 45 scientists. Kangaroo Mom filed Ilex kudingcha leaf extract for teenage oil control after AI-assisted screening. The unresolved tension is standardisation: multi-target plant extracts resist the single-molecule logic regulators and clinicians prefer. Detail --- 500+ since 2021 Plant above chemical in H1 2026 Fourth, Tianjin, October

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