With The Monsters, Monkey King and Ne Zha, China's IP-driven businesses brace for growth
Pop Mart 's The Monsters series, as well as new games and animations reimagining mythological figures like the Monkey King and Ne Zha, has driven rapid growth in China's intellectual property (IP) industry in recent years, with analysts saying the trend is likely to continue.
'While the economy is sluggish, it continues to grow and generate consumption,' wrote Ivan Su, a senior equity analyst for Morningstar. 'This increasing growth in China will help lead to the creation of and investment in more home-grown IPs.'
He said IPs were targeting consumers with rising incomes who desired social belonging and esteem. He added that consumers accustomed to spending on IPs made up a growing share of the population.
For toys, China's IP sales were projected to grow at an annual rate of 17.2 per cent through 2029 after reaching 7.6 billion yuan (US$1 billion) in 2024, investment bank CICC said in a report last week, citing data from China Insights Consultancy.
Over the same time period, global IP growth was expected to reach 8 per cent a year after hitting 525.1 billion yuan in 2024, CICC said, adding that China and Southeast Asia were expected to contribute nearly half of the industry's total growth over the next four years.
But analysts said the industry's long-term momentum also depended on companies' ability to keep their IPs hot after the initial buzz faded.
Pop Mart is an illustrative recent example. The Beijing-based toymaker behind the popular 'Labubu' dolls saw its shares plunge nearly 15 per cent last week after restocking its latest Labubu 3.0 series. The move sent resale prices tumbling temporarily and raised concerns that the company's rapid growth was cooling.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Why EU stance on Taiwan is a growing cause of concern for mainland China
This year marks half a century of formal diplomatic relations between China and the European Union as well as the 25th anniversary of the founding of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. In this, the fourth part of the series, Shi Jiangtao looks at how the issue of Taiwan is overshadowing the relationship. As mainland China and the European Union mark 50 years of diplomatic ties, there is growing concern in Beijing that the bloc may be undermining its one-China policy, as Brussels – and some individual member states in particular – expand informal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Historically viewed as a diplomatic formality, Taiwan has gained increasing prominence in Beijing's relations with the EU over the past decade. This has complicated Brussels' efforts to balance between economic partnerships with Beijing, strategic alignment with Washington, and growing unofficial trade and cultural ties with Taipei. After establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing in 1975, all member states of the European Economic Community – the precursor to the EU – formally recognised Beijing as the sole legitimate government of China, a stance now mirrored by most of the world. This commitment, routinely reaffirmed in subsequent high-level exchanges, has long been seen by Beijing as a major diplomatic red line. It regards the issue as both a gauge of the EU's adherence to the one-China policy and a litmus test of Brussels' much-touted drive for strategic autonomy amid intensifying US-China rivalry. In recent years, however, several European countries have expanded ties with Taipei, seeking to actively reinterpret their one-China policy – distinguishing it from Beijing's one-China principle, even as Brussels has stepped up efforts to 'de-risk' its relationship with mainland China.
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong top talent scheme's 54% visa extension rate ‘ideal', labour chief says
More than half of the professionals admitted to Hong Kong under a top talent scheme launched two years ago have applied to extend their stay, a rate that the city's labour chief has hailed as 'ideal'. Reviewing the Top Talent Pass Scheme, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han also revealed on Friday that the median monthly salary of those who had successfully extended their visas was HK$40,000 (US$5,128), while a quarter earned HK$80,000. Sun also dismissed concerns that the new arrivals had consumed Hong Kong resources, noting that half of those who succeeded in extending their stay were aged 40 or below, while saying that small details in the scheme could be enhanced. The scheme, under which a two-year visa is usually issued to successful applicants, was launched by the government in December 2022 to counter a brain drain during the Covid-19 pandemic. In a closed-door media briefing on Friday, Sun revealed that the visas of 13,678 individuals had expired as of July 31, with 7,394 or 54 per cent submitting applications for an extension. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun. Photo: Sun Yeung Including 2,305 people whose visas had not expired before July 31 but who had already applied for extensions, the Immigration Department had received 9,699 applications in total.
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
China's high-speed jet drone, Trump shrugs off Latin American moves: SCMP daily highlights
Catch up on some of SCMP's biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing In an aviation tech breakthrough that could change naval warfare, Chinese aerospace engineers have unveiled what could be the world's first high-speed vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drone powered by a jet engine. After six months of steady improvement, China's economy showed signs of strain in July, with several headline indicators losing momentum amid a weakening of domestic consumption, headwinds from the US trade war and a prolonged property downturn. President Donald Trump said the US was 'doing better than any other country in the world right now'. Photo: EPA US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he was not worried about Brazil, Mexico and other Latin American nations moving closer to China, telling reporters in the Oval Office, 'They can do whatever they want.'
