Hair transplants quickly growing roots across nation
植发业在全中国迅速“生根”
China 's hair transplant industry is expanding and upgrading as people's awareness of hair aesthetics increases and they have a willingness to pay for personal appearance, according to industry experts and business leaders.
据业内专家和商界领袖介绍，随着人们对头发美学的意识不断提高，愿意为个人形象支付费用，植发业在中国正快速扩张和升级。
Demand from small cities and the younger generations is expected to pick up due to growing awareness, they said.
他们表示，由于意识不断提高，来自小城市和年轻一代的需求有望增加。
Yonghe Medical Group Co Ltd, the largest hair transplant clinic chain in the country by revenue, experienced fast expansion last year despite headwinds from the COVID-19 pandemic.
尽管受到新冠疫情的冲击，中国收入最高的植发诊所连锁机构雍禾医疗集团有限公司去年经历了快速扩张。
The Beijing-headquartered company opened nine hair transplant clinics and six haircare centers in 2023. Furthermore, a total of 17 hair transplant clinics are expected to kick off operations this year, increasing the number of its clinics to no less than 80 by the end of the year.
这家总部位于北京的公司在2023年开设了九家植发诊所和六家发型护理中心。此外，今年预计将有总计17家植发诊所开业，诊所数量在年底前达到至少80家。
According to Zhang Yu, chairman and CEO of Yonghe Medical Group, the general population is becoming increasingly aware of hair transplantation as an alternative to treat hair loss and improve appearance.
雍禾医疗集团董事长兼首席执行官张玉表示，普通大众对于植发作为治疗脱发和改善形象的替代方式的意识越来越高。
" In the past, many believed that the recipients of hair transplant s are so-called white-collar workers, but that has changed," Zhang said, adding that nowadays everyone is willing to pay for better appearances, and blue-collar workers have become important customers in the industry.
“许多人过去认为做植发手术的是所谓的白领工人，但现在情况已经改变了。”张玉说道，现在每个人都愿意为更好的外表买单，蓝领工人已成为该行业的重要客户。
Under such circumstances, the company has changed its charging model of the procedures — from pricing in accordance with each patient's total number of transplanted hair follicles to offering a fixed price range based on the level of each doctor's clinical experience, in a bid to attract more customers.
在这种情况下，该公司已经改变了手术收费模式，从按照每个患者移植的毛囊总数定价，改为按照每位医生的临床经验水平提供固定价格范围，以吸引更多的客户。
Already having more than 300 full-time physicians and more than 900 nurses, the company is currently upgrading operation tactics to improve services, Zhang said.
该公司已经拥有300多名全职医生和900多名护士，目前正在升级运营策略以改善服务，张玉说。
Citing data from the National Health Commission, a recent report by Chinese tech media 36Kr's research institute said that more than 250 million people in China experience hair loss and among them, about 42 percent are aged between 26 to 30.
通过援引国家卫健委的数据，中国科技媒体36氪研究所最近的一份报告显示，中国有超过2.5亿人脱发，其中约42％的人年龄在26至30岁之间。
Cao Hu, global partner of Kotler Marketing Group, or KMG, said as consumers become more aware of the importance of healthy hair for a nice appearance, the demand for hair transplants has been booming not only in first-tier but also in smaller cities.
科特勒咨询集团全球合伙人曹虎表示，随着消费者对于健康头发对于外形重要性意识的提高，植发的需求不仅在一线城市而且在较小的城市也在迅速增长。
However , Cao, who is also CEO of KMG's China arm, said that to better tap the great potential in the hair loss-related services industry, service providers need to upgrade their current business models that rely heavily on marketing to acquire customers.
然而，兼任科特勒咨询集团中国区首席执行官的曹虎表示，为了更好地挖掘与脱发有关的服务行业的巨大潜力，服务提供商需要升级其目前的商业模式，不再严重依赖营销来赢得顾客。
Upgrading services to better meet new needs and preferences in niche markets is a more ideal growth path for those market players, he said.
他表示，升级服务以更好地满足细分市场中的新需求和偏好，是市场参与者更理想的增长路径。
