By Mark Seavy

The surge in museum licensing in China is being matched by consumers’ growing interest in trading cards, figurines, and anime throughout the region.  And while luxury goods typically get top billing for sales in China, there is also a growing business for low-priced goods.

Several factors are informing these growing trends. The trading card craze that is sweeping China is being driven largely by the country’s youth, who have shown a willingness to pay for affordable non-essential items. And while many associate the category most closely with sports brands, trading cards from entertainment franchises like Hasbro’s My Little Pony, Tsuburaya Production Co.’s Ultra Man, anime series Yeloi, and mobile game Egg Party are among those enjoying a surge in popularity in China.

The focus on trading cards is being further driven by social media content, with unboxing livestreams attracting heavy viewership, and by retailers like Pop Mart, where rows of the glossy card packs get prominent placement. Collectibles company Kayou, which markets the licensed My Little Pony and Ultraman sets, posted $1.95 billion yuan in revenue during the first nine months of 2023 and relies on trading cards for 85% of its revenue.

Many of the trading card sets are organized in a hierarchy based on their rarity. That leads consumers to buy more packs in an effort to get the rarest cards. And while this has contributed to sales, it has also raised concerns about gambling-like behavior among children and led some schools in China to ban trading cards from their campuses.

Like trading cards, figurines have seen a recent spike in popularity. Unlike trading cards, however, blind boxes are heavily regulated in China. Chinese agencies have imposed age restrictions (they can’t be sold to children under eight years old), information disclosures about the value of the contents, and price caps (prices are based on manufacturing and operation costs in addition to market supply and demand.)

As a result, many manufacturers have focused on beloved brands and celebrities to provide a point of difference. Kaws figurines, created by artist Brian “Kaws” Donnelly, first gained attention in 2010 after being displayed in the homes of celebrities like Drake and Justin Bieber. The category gained widespread popularity in China when Pop Mart introduced Molly Dolls blind boxes featuring the artwork of Kenny Wong in 2016.

Building off the growth of trading cards and figurines, a number of anime brands have also enjoyed a rise in popularity in the region. Chinese series like Mo Dao Zhu Shi, Soul Land, Full Time Magister, and The King’s Avatar are among the most popular. However, when compared to many of the series featured on Japanese streaming services many of these shows are less familiar to foreign consumers.

Among the China-based services is video sharing platform Bilibili, which produces a large catalog of anime like Fog Hill of Five Elements and Uncharted Walker and has more 680 series and films available.

Tencent, meanwhile, has more than 1,000 series and films on Tencent Video and is sharpening its focus on China-produced titles like Soul Land and The King’s Avatar. Tencent Video also operates WeTV, which has some English-dubbed Chinese anime series. The internet and technology giant had a major presence at the recent China Licensing Expo in Shanghai, where Tencent TV, Tencent Publishing, and Tencent Gaming were present in three booths.

And while entertainment companies tend to dominate licensing trade shows, museums also had a major presence at the recent tradeshow.

The U.K.’s Victoria & Albert Museum and British Museum had major presences through agent Alfilo and the new head of licensing at the U.K.’s National Gallery also attended the show. Prince Kung’s Palace Museum – Anshan Hall also took booth space at the tradeshow to promote its licensing plans, which are being jointly developed with the Shenzhen Chuangke Chaoren Culture Commission Co. These displays presented further evidence of the changing landscape for museum licensing in China as art and culture become part of everyday life.

China was an early adopter of museum licensing, including the British Library’s art display, which has been touring shopping malls in the region since 2021. It has so far reached 20 venues and attracted more than 1.2 million visitors. The Cambridge University Museum and Botanic Garden, meanwhile, is launching a location-based entertainment program in the region. These in-person offerings are expected to further solidify the museum category’s popularity in China.