As I understand it, thus is the situation re China.
China had a law that any make up, no matter what, had to be tested on animals before it could be sold in China. So even if products were tested on animals during production, if they were put on shelves in China, they needed to be tested on animals again.
Obviously that caused huge problems for brands whose selling point was that it was cruelty free. Recently China modified the law. Firstly, if goods are bought direct from a cosmetics company online, they don't need to be tested. So companies that only sell online can still say their products are cruelty free.
Secondly, for cosmetics that are sold in the stores, companies must still conduct animal testing. Companies can get exemptions from testing if they jump through hoops and produce certain certification for local authorities. There's no report of any company doing this yet as far as I know.
Thirdly, cosmetics made and produced in China don't need to be tested on animals if they have the correct safety checks in place.
Fourthly, animal testing can take place in post market testing if there are complaints from a customer or some doubt about authenticity. There is a dispute whether this os actually done on animals in practice or by alternative measures.
It's quite difficult to get clarity on most things because it's not easy to verify China's claims.