South Korea’s net cosmetics production reached a record 10.73 trillion won ($9.3 billion) last year, led by strong exports to China, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Wednesday.

Korea’s cosmetics production rose on-year by 19.64 percent in 2015, lending a hand in doubling the country’s cosmetics trade surplus on-year to roughly $1.5 billion last year, the ministry said.

Korea’s cosmetics exports rose 43.76 percent on-year to $2.5 billion in 2015, while imports rose a mere 3.83 percent to $1.87 billion, reflecting the growing competitiveness of local cosmetics products, it said.

In 2015, China accounted for the highest export volume at $1.62 billion, followed by Hong Kong at $642 million, the U.S. at $189 million and Japan at $122 million.

Korean cosmetics exports to Chinese-speaking regions, including China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, stood at $1.82 billion in 2015, or 70.45 percent of the country’s total cosmetics exports during the year, according to the data.

By company, AmorePacific and LG Household & Health Care together accounted for 61.8 percent of Korea’s total cosmetics production in 2015, the ministry said.

AmorePacific, which owns brands such as Sulwhasoo, Laneige, Iope, Innisfree and Etude House, produced around 3.75 trillion won (34.9 percent) worth of cosmetics goods while LG H&H produced around 2.89 trillion won (26.9 percent) worth of products.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)