Chinese toy company Pop Mart is emerging as an unlikely ambassador for Beijing’s soft power ambitions, with its Labubu collectibles becoming a global phenomenon. The $30 vinyl figures have gained celebrity endorsements from Rihanna to K-pop stars while driving a 107% sales surge in 2024 – outpacing legacy Japanese rivals like Sanrio.

The company’s blind box business model has proven particularly successful, contributing to an expected 350% first-half profit increase. Goldman Sachs projects Pop Mart could eventually match Lego’s $11.3 billion annual sales, with over 500 global stores including a recent Berlin outpost. The phenomenon reflects China’s broader cultural export success, from Black Myth: Wukong’s record-breaking video game sales to Genshin Impact’s $2 billion first-year revenue.

These commercial successes have helped elevate China to second place in Brand Finance’s global soft power rankings, surpassing the UK for the first time. Analysts note the products are changing perceptions organically – unlike traditional government-led image campaigns. “Young people are no longer attaching negative brand perceptions to China,” said consumer analyst Yaling Jiang.

The trend highlights how Chinese companies are capitalizing on global youth culture’s appetite for emotional purchases and intellectual property-driven products. As Pop Mart challenges Japanese pop culture dominance and Chinese games outperform Western titles, these commercial successes may prove more effective than state propaganda in reshaping China’s international image.

Yet questions remain about whether Beijing will allow this bottom-up cultural influence to develop independently. The government’s historical preference for controlled messaging could test the organic appeal of these consumer brands as they become increasingly prominent global ambassadors for Chinese creativity.

Source: CNBC.