Emerging brands drive consumer growth in China

The consumer market is evolving, with forms and content constantly innovating. This Spring Festival, from the "New Year goods" brought home by young people returning to their hometowns, to the robots performing Yangko dances in the Spring Festival Gala, and the trendy toys tied to hit movies, the festive atmosphere remains, but new consumer trends are emerging.

Leading these trends are emerging brands that have risen to prominence in recent years. They innovate products, offer diverse consumer experiences, find growth potential in differentiation, and drive new consumer demands through personalization, enhancing their appeal to consumers.

Pop Mart provides novel experiences for consumers

Pop Mart, a Chinese toy brand known for its blind boxes, sold more than 100,000 (sets of) toys inspired by the blockbuster Chinese animated film "Ne Zha 2" at its flagship store on Tmall, the online marketplace of Alibaba. The toys also sold well in brick-and-mortar stores.

A consumer poses for a picture with a toy of Labubu at a store of Pop Mart, a Chinese toy brand known for its blind boxes. (Xinhua/Sun Weitong)

Since launching its first product in 2016, Pop Mart has introduced products that have gained attention and popularity, including toys of Labubu, an elf-like character with pointy ears and nine serrated teeth.

In the first half of 2024, Pop Mart grossed more than 100 million yuan (about $13.69 million) through seven IPs under it. During the same period, the company's total operating revenue surpassed 4.5 billion yuan, with a net profit of 1.02 billion yuan, up 90 percent year on year.

Trendy toy IPs offer emotional value by serving as a means for consumers to express themselves in a personalized way and bring joy to themselves.

"We came here specifically to interact with Labubu," said Liu Mi, a Beijing citizen, who visited the Pop Mart City Park in Chaoyang Park of Beijing over the weekend. Many fans dressed up as Labubu, waiting half an hour in advance for the life-size doll to appear.

In the first half of 2024, the Labubu IP generated 627 million yuan in revenue, a nearly 300 percent year-on-year increase.

"The success and business value of an IP hinge on the company's investment and operations. We are always on the lookout for the optimal development path for different IPs, diving deep into their essence, and crafting diverse product models and innovative playstyles, striving to deliver fresh experiences to consumers," said Pop Mart founder Wang Ning.

Unitree Robotics taps new consumption scenarios through sci-tech innovation

Photo shows a humanoid robot product developed by Unitree Robotics. (Photo courtesy of Unitree Robotics)

The H1 humanoid robot products from Unitree Robotics in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, gained attention for their remarkable performance at the 2025 Spring Festival Gala. Powered by advanced technologies such as high-precision autonomous positioning and navigation, and whole-body artificial intelligence (AI) motion control, the robots can adjust their movements in real time.

Less than two months ago, a quadruped robot by Unitree gained widespread attention online for its impressive agility.

"At that time, we realized that affordable, lightweight, and high-performance quadruped robots would be the next big thing," said Wang Xingxing, who founded Unitree in 2016.

By emulating the movements of quadruped animals, Unitree's quadruped robots, with their unique design and balance control algorithms, can walk, jump, climb stairs, and navigate various complex environments. Additionally, they have found applications in industrial settings, security patrols, exploration, public rescue missions, and beyond.

Before the Spring Festival, Wang Lan from Hangzhou's Binjiang district purchased Unitree's robot dog Go2 for less than 10,000 yuan on an e-commerce platform. Initially bought on a whim for its dancing, package-carrying, and walking companionship features, the versatile robot dog has quickly become a beloved addition to the family.

Currently, this robot is selling thousands of units per month on e-commerce platforms.

Chi Forest makes high-quality products that meet consumer needs

In recent years, sugar-free beverages with a clean ingredient list like sparkling water have become market hits. Chi Forest, a Chinese beverage company, quickly gained consumer attention with its zero sugar, zero fat, and zero calorie soda water. Its beverages featuring traditional Chinese health concepts have gained popularity after hitting the market, generating more than 100 million yuan in sales in just four months.

Why does Chi Forest introduce beverages featuring traditional Chinese health concepts?

A customer selects beverages of Chi Forest, a Chinese beverage company, at a supermarket. (Photo courtesy of Chi Forest)

According to Wang Pu, a co-founder of Chi Forest, to create a good product, user surveys are essential. Chi Forest discovered through these surveys that young people have a variety of preferences when it comes to beverages: they desire beverages made with natural ingredients, not overly sweet, delicious, and ideally capable of addressing concerns such as obesity and fatigue resulting from prolonged consumption of takeout food and sedentary office work.

In response to these needs, Chi Forest developed a beverage incorporating traditional Chinese health concepts.

A team of hundreds selected three flavors of health drinks from over 100 ingredients. For just the red bean flavored beverage, they tried over 40 types of red beans before settling on a variety from northeast China.

Due to its clean ingredient list, the taste of the beverage is heavily reliant on the quality of the raw materials and processing methods. At Chi Forest's factory in Chuzhou, east China's Anhui Province, a large pot is utilized to boil red beans instead of an extraction column.

"Using boiled red bean water instead of extracted red bean water results in a unique flavor profile. We strive to preserve the essence of homemade tastes and have specially designed a large pot to incorporate this innovative cooking process into our production line," explained Wang Pu.