South African resident Maggie Yu didn't anticipate that when she started her online shop selling South African products in China, extracts from a succulent cactus plant would provide the bulk of her sales. Yu's online outlet on Taobao, China's largest customer-to-customer online platform, sold 249 containers of South African aloe vera gel in 30 days, making it one of her shop's top-selling products and collecting very positive feedback from the public.

A quick search on Taobao shows more than 100 agents selling aloe products. Aloes are perennial succulents primarily native to Africa. Of more than 360 aloe species, 130 are South African natives.  

The South African aloe vera brand dates back to 1982. Extracts from the aloe plant are widely used to manufacture cosmetics and alternative medicine. It is marketed as having healing and rejuvenating properties, particularly for the skin. It has subsequently developed a large female following.

The feedback from Gu Xiaowen, a regular customer of Yu's aloe products, said that because aloe vera is more easily absorbed, provides ample hydration and is gentle and safe, it does wonders for her sensitive skin.

Cosmetics boom

The Chinese cosmetic market has developed quickly with an annual average growth rate of 23.8 percent, benefiting from the accelerated process of urbanization as well as improved disposable income. Growth rates for natural cosmetics continue to outperform other sectors, posting an annual growth rate of up to 65 percent, according to data from the Euromonitor, a London-based market intelligence firm.

In 2011, the cosmetics industry in China recorded total sales of 200 billion yuan ($32 billion), making it the world's third largest cosmetics market. In the same year, sales of natural skincare brands accounted for over 40 percent of the entire market. The natural cosmetics have been a mainstream development for the cosmetics industry, according to a 2012-16 Chinese Cosmetics Market Trends Forecast. Aloe vera products, because of the benefits for health and skin care, continued to benefit from this growing trend among health conscious Chinese.

Succulent attraction

The potential of aloe vera attracted Hu Liming, an entrepreneur with years of experience in doing business in Africa. Unlike other agents, Hu saw a broader market prospect for South African aloe products, and planned to create his own aloe brand cosmetics.

"The diamond-rich country is also famous for its diversity of aloes," said Hu. "I was attracted by the special effects of aloe vera."

The business savvy Hu established the South Africa Magic Aloe Co. in 2008. The company developed, manufactured and commercialized aloe vera cosmetics with South African universities and research institutions, and patented its cosmetic products. In 2010, Magic Aloe's market share in South Africa had grown to 11 percent with an annual sales growth of more than 100 percent in aloe cosmetics. It now posts annual profits of 5 million yuan ($806,000).

Encouraged by this progress, Hu planned to enter into the field of R&D and sales of biomedical products so as to promote the manufacture of high value-added products, and has started shifting production of aloe vera to China.

The aloe vera industry remains an emerging industry in China, but data in recent years was encouraging. The output value of the domestic aloe industry exceeded 9 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) in 2010, four times that of 2008, according to a China Aloe Industry Development Report released in 2011. Industry insiders said that the long term potential of the Chinese aloe cosmetics market is big.