Over 70 Top-Tier Gemstone-Listed Doctors Endorse Industry Self-Regulation Initiative to Promote Ethical Medical Aesthetics
“I am Dr. Wang Hongjun, a physician featured on the New Oxygen Emerald List, based in Shenzhen. I support the self-regulatory initiative of China’s medical aesthetics industry! Uphold your conscience and ethical底线!” Healthy medical aesthetics is about beauty and dignity.
Recently, over 70 physicians from the Emerald List, representing the highest standards in the medical aesthetics industry, launched a relay campaign on social media to advocate for professional self-discipline, collectively voicing the strongest call for self-regulation within China’s medical aesthetics sector. Since then, the self-discipline initiative spearheaded by New Oxygen has generated a significant industry-wide aggregation effect.
At the 2020 Meivos International Medical Aesthetics Conference held not long ago, New Oxygen officially announced the inaugural “Emerald Doctor List.” The physicians featured on the list are all senior specialists with an average of over 10 years of professional experience—accumulating 87,600 hours of clinical practice—and are leaders in their respective subspecialties. To ensure high standards and rigor in the selection process, the “Emerald Doctor List” convened an authoritative review panel composed of industry veterans, technical experts, and aesthetics specialists. This panel conducted meticulous evaluations of each candidate across 101 dimensions encompassing technical proficiency, aesthetic judgment, and service quality.
As demand for medical aesthetics continues to rise, the scarcity of qualified physicians has become a major constraint on the development of China’s medical aesthetics industry. According to the “2020 White Paper on Irregularities in China’s Medical Aesthetics Industry,” the rapidly growing sector is plagued by serious problems involving unlicensed practitioners (“black doctors”). In 2019, only 28% of physicians practicing in medical aesthetics in China were compliant with regulations. In other words, eight out of ten doctors were unqualified, and one was operating beyond their approved scope of practice. Additionally, statistics from the Chinese Association of Plastics and Aesthetics indicate that there are currently at least 100,000 illegal practitioners in the domestic medical aesthetics market.
To address the shortage of medical resources, New Oxygen has progressively increased its investment since 2019 in video consultations, physician live streaming, the “Double Hundred Plan,” and the “Emerald Doctor List.” This approach brings an increasing number of senior physicians with strong technical skills and excellent service to the forefront for consumer selection. Compared with the previously opaque development of the medical aesthetics industry, this curated model of directly presenting high-quality resources to consumers serves a dual purpose: on one hand, it facilitates the building of physicians’ personal brands (IPs), attracting resources and converting followers, thereby overcoming customer acquisition and promotional challenges stemming from inadequate marketing capabilities; on the other hand, it helps consumers better evaluate physician qualifications, thus addressing the industry’s trust crisis.
Through initiatives such as “Wanli Taoyi,” the professional development landscape for duly qualified and highly skilled licensed physicians is gradually becoming more favorable, enabling consumers to make choices better aligned with their needs when navigating the mix of authentic and misleading physician information online.
If the emergence of doctors on the Emerald List has addressed the current chaos of information asymmetry in the medical aesthetics industry and optimized future consumption patterns, then SoYoung’s “crackdown on illegal practices” has demonstrated to consumers the industry’s commitment to stringent self-regulation.
To some extent, the emergence of New Oxygen is a product of the fight against illegal medical aesthetic practices. Its platform model, which directly connects consumers with doctors, has helped reduce many detours in medical aesthetic consumption. Over the years, New Oxygen has been actively exploring ways to combat illegal medical aesthetics, leveraging the advantages of internet technology to continuously improve platform audits. From qualification reviews and content moderation to product vetting and the development of risk control models for detecting non-compliant information, New Oxygen has initially established a moat between its platform and illegal medical aesthetic providers. Meanwhile, New Oxygen also strengthens industry supervision and maintains a standardized and orderly development environment by utilizing user risk indices and institutional risk indices.
From May 21, when New Oxygen launched its self-regulatory initiative in the medical aesthetics industry, to August 1, the platform conducted continuous and rigorous self-inspections and audits. During this period, New Oxygen blocked a total of 58 problematic institutions; addressed 14,685 instances involving physicians suspected of practicing in violation of regulations or beyond their licensed scope; handled 12,099 cases of medical aesthetic products suspected of regulatory or legal violations; removed 9,180 non-compliant diary posts; processed 1,743 diary posts that failed to properly redact sensitive information; permanently banned 351 accounts for violations; and dealt with a total of 29,729 pieces of non-compliant content (including black- and gray-market content and material violating platform rules, across formats such as diary posts, comments, and videos).
In the face of persistent violations such as medical institutions operating beyond their approved scope and unlicensed entities conducting offline operations, SoYoung, as an industry leader, has set a benchmark for the entire sector by implementing rigorous periodic self-inspections and disclosing its governance outcomes.
This time, more than 70 physicians listed on the Emerald Doctor List conveyed to the public the medical aesthetics industry’s ongoing commitment to implementing the spirit of the strict supervision notice issued by eight national ministries and commissions. By launching a relay of professional self-discipline pledges on social media platforms, these doctors leveraged their influential and credible personal brands to issue declarations such as “Provide medical aesthetic services in full compliance with laws and regulations, and reject illegal medical aesthetics,” “Crack down on false and exaggerated promotional claims for medical aesthetic services, and refuse unauthorized procedures,” and “Strictly investigate unlicensed and non-compliant medical aesthetic services, and rectify illegal institutions.” These messages resonate more deeply with the public and will encourage more ordinary practitioners in the medical aesthetics field to say “no” to illegal medical aesthetics practices, illicit institutions, unqualified practitioners, and unauthorized procedures, thereby safeguarding industry order, protecting consumer rights and interests, and upholding the professional reputation of practitioners.
At the press conference launching the industry self-regulation initiative, Zhang Liming, Vice President of New Oxygen Technology and Head of the New Oxygen Risk Control Committee, stated, “We hope that, through our collective efforts, the industry self-regulation initiative will be deepened and expanded, fostering a prosperous and healthy development of the medical aesthetics market.” After six months of momentum, industry self-regulation has evolved from a platform-specific effort by New Oxygen into a broader industry-wide movement. An increasing number of medical aesthetics institutions and physicians listed on the Emerald List have actively responded to and implemented self-regulatory practices, demonstrating to society at large the industry’s resolve to rectify chaotic practices.
As New Oxygen continues to advance its “One in Ten Thousand Doctors” selection and its “Crackdown on Illegal Practices” initiatives, the Chinese medical aesthetics industry will enjoy an even brighter future. As Li Jingxiong, President of Xiangmi Regent Medical Aesthetics Hospital, stated when issuing an industry self-discipline initiative: “As long as the wind keeps blowing, even the longest winter will pass. We will ultimately change the direction of the tide!”