Euromonitor International claims that the Chinese market for men’s beauty products is set to grow five times faster than its North American counterpart in the years up to 2014. A Euromonitor International spokesman claimed the reason behind the surge in sales was that Chinese men “no longer have to borrow cosmetics from wives or girlfriends.” And the statistics would support that claim.

The company’s report claims almost 40 percent of urban Chinese men used either skin care or cosmetic products in the first half of 2010, and that the industry was now worth US$269.9 million (207.7 million euros) – compared to the US$227.4 million (175 million euros) spent by men in North America.

The prediction is that the Chinese market will experience an overall growth of 29 percent for the period between the years 2009 and 2014 – compared to a growth of 5.7 per cent in North America and 7.9 per cent in Europe.

That’s great news for the Paris-based cosmetic brand L’Oreal, which the report claims has a 32 percent share of the market for men’s health and beauty products in China.

“We estimate that the men’s cosmetics sector has grown at twice the rate of the total beauty market in China,” Alexis Perakis-Valat, L’Oreal China’s chief executive, told the China Daily newspaper. “China’s men are modern and they do not have any taboos.”