China is declaring war on advertising for booming cosmetic surgery. It is imperative and urgent to regulate the advertisements on posters and train stations, on television programs or on social media, as they are rampant and make some false claims, wrote the pro-government newspaper “People’s Daily” in a comment published on its website on Tuesday.
Some advertisements linked good looks with “high quality” and “success”, telling stories of plastic surgery changing fate. The responsible competition authority had already drafted rules in August.
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The beauty industry is not the first sector the Chinese government has taken to regulate it. For months, Beijing has been tightening the thumbscrews in various areas such as technology, education and real estate to regain control of the economy and society after years of loosening.
In recent years, the demand for cosmetic surgery and medical-aesthetic treatments such as eye or nose operations has risen sharply. Many Chinese strive for a western look. There have always been cases in which patients were not adequately informed about the risks. According to the state news agency Xinhua, the responsible association expects the market for cosmetic surgery in the People’s Republic to grow to around 46.5 billion dollars by 2022. (Reuters)
