While the global IP market entered an explosive phase last year, the public experienced a fundamental shift in consumer perception, especially for China-themed IPs, which is no longer a mere phenomenon among niche communities, but also an increasingly recognized consumer magnet.

Paying for Chinese IP and the emotional value evoked by related products has become a common selling point among consumers.

For instance, less than a month after the release of the blockbuster animated film Ne Zha 2, sales of its related merchandise broke the two-year record held by The Wandering Earth II. At the 2025 Shanghai International Film Festival, Wang Changtian, CEO of Enlight Media, revealed that sales of Ne Zha 2 derivatives reached $1.5 billion, while The Legend of Hei 2 secured 31 licensing collaborations before and after its launch, with the first batch of collaborations with Miniso — a popular Chinese variety store chain specializing in IP goods — selling out, and related blind boxes with Pop Mart selling out in seconds.

The popular Chinese animated hit Nobody (Lang Lang Shan Xiao Yao Guai) not only reached cooperation with over 30 enterprises, but also launched over 400 licensed derivative products simultaneously with the movie, another testament showing that Chinese IP licensing has become an important part of movie marketing.

After seeing Nobody, Wang Ping, a 32-year-old fan of the film, bought several themed items, which cost him around 200 yuan ($29). He also replaced his WeChat profile with one of the main characters in the film.

Trendy toy IPs have rapidly advanced as well. During the Spring Festival holiday in 2025, Labubu became a global sensation, driving industry upgrades. iResearch, an industry analyst company, predicts that the market size of China's trendy toy IPs will exceed 100 billion yuan by 2027.

Following Labubu, Pop Mart has created a new hit with Twinkle Twinkle, whose sales reached 390 million yuan in the first half of 2025, with its new products selling out quickly in the third quarter.

In addition to Pop Mart, Miniso also emphasizes its commitment to the trendy toy market. Its founder Ye Guofu said the firm plans to spend 100 million yuan signing different artists, and the IP Nommi directly drove Miniso's July-September performance growth.

Among the new brands, Letsvan performed impressively. Its IP Wakuku was first released at the Miniso Land Beijing No 1 store, and within two hours, it was sold out. Later, it attracted attention from the capital market. After pop toy firm QuantaSing Group acquired 61 percent of Letsvan's shares, its own share price soared by 140 percent in a single day.

According to Xinsheng-Pro, a market intelligence tracker on WeChat, in terms of content supply, if 2025 marked an explosion in consumer spending power in the IP market, with several top tier IPs validating the sector's strong consumption potential, then 2026 will see a sharp surge in both the variety and volume of IP content. Competition for intellectual property will intensify across more dimensions and sources.

In addition, there may be more external capital and cross-border players entering this market in the future. Creating global pop culture symbols is also becoming a greater pursuit for leading IPs, it added.

Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, said: "In 2026, the IP market will shift from being 'traffic driven' to 'value driven' and enter a mature period of simultaneous deterministic growth and global competition. The offline space will evolve from a simple 'selling point' to a 'source of experience'. In 2026, the deep integration of IP with cultural tourism, commercial real estate and theme parks will become mainstream, providing irreplaceable emotional value through immersive interaction. Offline operations not only extend the IP life cycle, but also create high premium services based on spatial experience beyond physical consumption."

Wang added: "Creating a globally universal discourse system has become the core goal of top IP. By leveraging mature supply chain advantages such as IP toys and 3D printing hardware, as well as overseas distribution of strong content such as games and movies, Chinese IP is competing for symbol definition rights worldwide through a dual wheel drive of 'cultural content plus physical goods going global'."