A covert battle centered around "recombinant collagen" is bringing two regional female billionaires and their respective publicly listed companies into the spotlight.

Fang Daidi from Shaanxi, an academic by profession, transformed Juzhi Biology into a renowned name in beauty; while Yang Xia from Shanxi has focused on medical equipment, successfully taking Jinbo Biology public. Both are now turning their attention towards the C-end beauty sector.

The shifting trends have first blown to the live e-commerce battlefield for the Double 11 festival. This year, a new brand, Tongping, rapidly climbed the ranks in the brand lists of Li Jiaqi's live stream during the Tmall 618 and Double 11 events.

Data from Qingyan shows that Tongping's GMV growth rate held second place in Li Jiaqi's Double 11 inaugural live stream brand ranking, while Juzhi Biology's proprietary brand, Kefu Mei, ranked seventh. Notably, Tongping is backed by the usually low-profile founder and chairman of Jinbo Biology, Yang Xia. Public information indicates that Jinbo not only provides core technological support for Tongping but Yang also personally appeared in promotional videos. This move is interpreted by the market as a clear signal of Jinbo Biology’s strategic shift from the B-end medical equipment sector to the C-end functional skincare market.

The poor pre-sale performance during Double 11 has caused Juzhi Biology’s stock price to continuously drop. On October 17, Juzhi Biology (2367.HK) hit a yearly low, closing at HKD 40.40 per share, with its total market capitalization falling to HKD 43.3 billion. The stock has experienced declines for eleven consecutive trading days, with a plunge of over 15% on October 16. It wasn't until the market close on October 20 that the stock finally halted its downward trend, rising 1.14% to close at HKD 40.86.

However, the recent surge in sales for Tongping has not reversed Jinbo Biology’s downward trend in the capital markets. As of the time of writing, Jinbo's share price has fallen for three consecutive days, closing at RMB 256.51 per share on October 24, with a total market capitalization of RMB 30.032 billion.

For Juzhi Biology, Jinbo’s situation signifies an intensification of homogeneous technological competition in the industry, suggesting that the battle has expanded from laboratory research to encompass brand marketing, channel competition, and capital operations.

Tongping, in its first year, has seen substantial sales of its core products amidst fierce competition in the functional skincare market. According to Qichacha information, the brand operates under Shanghai Chongjing Brand Management Co., Ltd., established in March 2024 with a registered capital of RMB 1 million, focusing on brand management and cosmetics retail.

In September of the same year, Tongping was officially launched, positioning itself as a "technology skincare brand" aimed at skin issue repair. Currently, its Tmall official flagship store features only a limited number of SKUs, including a multi-collagen repairing essence, collagen plumping lip essence, moisturizing soothing water stick, barrier repairing mask, and water-light essence spray, totaling 21 SKUs inclusive of exclusive specifications for Li Jiaqi's live stream.

The rapid breakthrough in sales and brand visibility for Tongping is attributed to its strategic channels tightly bundled with leading livestream hosts. During the Double 11 promotional period, the brand entered Li Jiaqi's live stream for the first time, achieving sales exceeding RMB 20 million and topping Tmall's list of new fast-moving consumer brands.

Currently, among the top five best-selling SKUs in Tongping's flagship store, four are exclusive specifications for Li Jiaqi's live stream, with respective total sales surpassing 200,000 for the collagen repairing essence; 100,000 for the repairing patch mask; over 100,000 for the collagen clarifying essence; and over 60,000 for the collagen repairing water stick.

Compared to this, multiple products from Kefu Mei have also crossed the 100,000 sales mark. As of October 20, Kefu Mei's Tmall flagship store shows total sales exceeding 400,000 for its softening lotion and over 200,000 for its recombinant collagen dressings, with sales surpassing 100,000 for its water replenishment masks. In the first live stream of Li Jiaqi's Double 11 this year, Kefu Mei's GMV also remained in the top ten.

If leading streamers have helped Tongping access terminal sales channels, then industry leader Jinbo Biology is a crucial factor in the brand's upstream production and technical support.

Upon closer observation, the connections between Tongping and Jinbo Biology are substantial. Clearly visible on the flagship store of this brand is Jinbo's name listed as the manufacturer and registrant for the core product, such as the multi-collagen sensitive repair essence. It is reported that in research and development, Tongping claims to co-develop with Jinbo Biology and incorporate several of Jinbo’s patented ingredients in its core products.

Specifically, the brand's collagen essence focuses on three types of humanized collagen. Jinbo's recombinant type III humanized collagen fiber is the first independently developed in China utilizing new biological materials. Additionally, several products under Tongping use multiple patented recombinant collagen components from Jinbo Biology. Reports indicate that Tongping utilizes type III, V, and XVII collagen provided by Jinbo, with type V being exclusively used by Tongping.

It is noteworthy that Qichacha data shows that Jinbo Biology applied for the trademark "Tongping" for three types of daily chemical products as early as 2018. Under this trademark, products including cleansing lotion, facial cleansers, beauty masks, cosmetics, whitening cream, acne cream, toothpaste, etc., are all included in the application list.

Moreover, in videos released by Tongping’s official account featuring Li Jiaqi's Double 11 series, Yang Xia, founder and chairman of Jinbo Biology, makes a rare appearance. In the video, Yang states, "Jinbo (Biology) has taken ten years to make recombinant collagen fully homologous to human origin, with the activity of type III human collagen reaching 1.83 times that of human collagen." Li Jiaqi noted, "Two years ago, I introduced recombinant collagen to everyone in my live stream for the first time."

Interestingly, two years ago, just before the 2023 618 shopping festival, Li Jiaqi launched the "Ingredient China" documentary series, which featured the domestic brand of recombinant collagen, Kefu Mei. During that year's live broadcast of Li Jiaqi's beauty festival, Kefu Mei received a pre-sale order before all others. Li Jiaqi also encouraged Kefu Mei's owner in the live stream, saying, "I hope the brand will thrive; this is just the beginning of our partnership for the year."

While Kefu Mei still sells in Li Jiaqi's live stream, the documentary's focus has shifted from the proprietary brand Kefu Mei of Juzhi Biology to the collaborative brand Tongping of Jinbo Biology.

Yang Xia and Fang Daidi, both women entrepreneurs with strong research backgrounds, are leading their companies down parallel yet distinct competitive paths.

It is worth mentioning that Jinbo Biology has recently gained capital support from Zhong Shanshan, the founder of Nongfu Spring, who has repeatedly been named "China's richest person." On September 19, Jinbo Biology (832982.BJ) announced its application for issuing stocks to specific investors was accepted by the Beijing Stock Exchange, aiming to issue no more than 7.17566 million shares, accounting for 6.24% of the total share capital, at a price of RMB 278.72 per share for a total fundraising amount not exceeding RMB 2 billion, with Yang Sheng Tang Limited (hereinafter referred to as “Yang Sheng Tang”), controlled by Zhong Shanshan, as its recipient.

This competition transcends individual company rivalry; it reflects the blurring boundaries between "pharmaceutical companies" and "beauty enterprises", as well as symbolizing the transition of China's functional skincare market from a blue ocean to a red ocean environment, shifting from technology-driven competition to a contest of comprehensive capabilities. Whether Juzhi Biology can maintain its position, or if Jinbo Biology can emerge stronger, will determine who reigns supreme in the next industry cycle.