From toys to trading cards, China’s ‘goods economy’ fills emotional voids, opens wallets

Zhu Zuoyi generally keeps her daily expenses tightly in check and spends less than 20 yuan (US$2.74) on most meals, but when it comes to merchandise tied to her favourite cartoon characters or beloved intellectual properties (IPs), she does not hold back.

The 24-year-old’s bedroom is packed with toys and various accessories. There is a vast assortment of LuLu the Piggy figurines and a collection of characters from Sanrio, the Japanese company behind Hello Kitty.

Her monthly splurges on such items can easily run into the hundreds of yuan.

“It’s an emotional investment – having these cute characters around me makes me feel happy and fulfilled,” the Wuhan-based woman said, noting the cost amounts to about a third of her food budget.

Zhu is among a wave of young consumers fuelling China’s “goods economy” – a market centred on spin-off products tied to the universe of anime, comics, games, and novels (ACGN). These range from relatively affordable items such as badges, posters and trading cards to higher-priced figurines and plush toys.

The broader ACGN market in China has been booming, with the number of general participants reaching 503 million in 2024, according to a report released by research firm iiMedia Research last month.