Jinan, capital city of Shandong province, produces 70 percent of China's hyaluronic acid (HA), making it the largest production base of hyaluronic acid in the country, said Xu Lei, deputy director of the city's bureau of industry and information technology.

"The total revenue generated from the HA industry in Jinan, including its raw materials and HA end products, surpassed 12 billion yuan ($1.68 billion) last year," Xu said at a news conference during an industry conference in Jinan, this June.

Once considered a luxury item, hyaluronic acid has become an affordable product used in everyday items due to new production capabilities and methods. At an exhibition hall of one production company based in Jinan, bottled water, pet food, cosmetics and healthcare products featuring HA are on display, indicating its widening uses.

A bottle of moisturizing spray priced at 80 yuan has topped online sales of moisturizing products for five consecutive years. Over 700 million yuan in product sales were recorded last year, with the figure projected to reach 900 million yuan this year, said Gao Chunming, chairman of Jinan-based Shandong Freda Biotechnology Co.

Last year, Freda's cosmetics revenue hit 2.42 billion yuan, representing year-on-year growth of 22.71 percent, according to the company's annual report.

The molecular weight of HA defines its application in end products, depending on their type and intended function.

Jinan-based Bloomage Biotechnology Co has been able to produce different HA molecular weights since 2011, the first company in the world to do so, by using an enzyme degradation method. The company can produce both the largest HA molecular weight, over 4 million Da, and the smallest, 800 Da, in the world, Liu Aihua, senior vice president of the company said.

HA raw materials generated 1.13 billion yuan in revenue for the company last year, a year-on-year increase of 15.22 percent, according to its annual report. Of the total, 517 million yuan is from overseas markets, representing year-on-year growth of 21.47 percent.

Bloomage has helped expand the use of HA products from traditional areas such as ophthalmology, orthopedics, medical aesthetics, and skin care to new areas including tissue engineering, gastrointestinal health, oral care, pet care, and textiles.