Villagers of a camellia planting cooperative pose for a group photo at Gumu Village in Luzhai County of Liuzhou City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, May 10, 2020.(Photo: Xinhua)
However, Sun's accusations have also sparked discussions and controversies among Chinese netizens.
"Just focus on making the products with higher quality instead of the hype," one netizen commented on Sun's post.
"Who said the same skincare ingredient can only be used by one cosmetic company?" another netizen wrote.
Lawyers pointed out that the accusation of unfair competition needs facts to support. If there is evidence proving that Chanel has infringed Lin Qingxuan's trade secrets in the development of its red camellia lines, Lin Qingxuan could claim that Chanel engaged in unfair competition violating regulations, the paper.cn reported, citing a lawyer, adding that only the similarity of the products is not enough to prove the infringement of trade secrets.
Chanel has not responded to Sun's comment and to global times' interview request as of press time. The brand posted a video on its official Weibo account on Wednesday, saying that it will soon reveal its new skincare line.
The sale of Lin Qingxuan's products during the annual "double eleven" shopping festival in 2021 reached more than $200 million yuan ($31.47 million), up 143 percent year-on-year, domestic site chnfund.com reported.
Global Times