When the online Olympic flagship store started to presell the Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon mascots at 12 am on March 21, many netizens were waiting to buy them. "Although the Winter Olympics has ended, the mascots are still in high demand. They sold out online quickly and it took me over an hour to get them from a retailer," said Hu Rui, a China chic fan born in 1995.
A key reason why such products are gaining popularity is the use of more and more Chinese elements, which is generating consumers' interest and leading a new trend in the market. "Chinese elements contributed to the popularity of the Winter Olympics mascots," said Wang Xin, deputy dean of the School of Advertising at the Communication University of China. "The rise of this China chic consumption reflects the growing confidence in Chinese culture."
According to the 2020 Report on China Consumption Brand Development released by Ali Research Institute, online market share of Chinese brand has reached 72 percent. Meanwhile, Big Data Report of 2021 Guochao Pride Search from Baidu, a leading search engine in China, revealed that the level of interest on guochao, or China chic, has skyrocketed by 528 percent in the past 10 years. Domestic products are in vogue, and domestic consumption has increasingly become an important choice for the new generation of consumers.
China chic incorporates unique cultural elements into latest trend in various industries, which not only satisfies younger consumers' needs for pursuing personality and fashion, but also plays a role in bringing back the traditional culture.
"China chic is a synthesis of Chinese products, brands, aesthetics and culture," said Wang. He said China chic appears in several forms, including ethnic totem, symbols representing fusion of traditional culture and modern fashion, and symbols representing China's images, such as Chinese characters of "China" and "Chinese nation". "Bing Dwen Dwen and Shuey Rhon Rhon have been warmly welcomed by consumers because they serve as carriers of Chinese symbol," said Wang.
