Chinese youth shape consumer trends with growing global appeal

TIANJIN -- On a weekend afternoon, Miyuru de Silva, a Sri Lankan student in Tianjin, browsed the shelves of blind-box toys at a Pop Mart store with her friends. After opening one of the boxes, she promptly shared a photo on social media. Within minutes, friends back in Sri Lanka were asking where they could buy one or whether she could bring one home on her next trip.

"I used to buy traditional souvenirs like tea and silk when I first came to China," she said.

Now, Miyuru spends her weekends sipping trendy milk tea, browsing designer toy stores, taking city walks and attending music festivals with Chinese friends. Beyond making her life in China more enjoyable, she said, these experiences have given her a firsthand look at the lifestyles and spending habits of China's younger generation.

Her story reflects a wider shift. Young Chinese consumers are not only reshaping the domestic market with homegrown brands, original intellectual property (IP) and new lifestyle experiences, but are also drawing growing interest from overseas consumers.

Official data show that China's retail sales of consumer goods and services rose 2.7 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2026. Service retail sales increased 5.3 percent, outpacing the 1.1-percent growth in goods retail sales, with spending on culture, sports and leisure services posting particularly strong growth.

These figures underscore China's efforts to foster new forms of consumption as part of a broader drive to boost domestic demand and cultivate new growth drivers.

Driven by young consumers, original IP-based merchandise, the booming "guzi economy," trendy tea drinks, creative markets, music festivals and AI-powered consumer products have emerged as vibrant new growth areas. Increasingly, these trends are spreading beyond China via social media, cross-border travel and cultural exchanges.

On platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, hashtags like "China Travel" and "China Shopping" continue to gain traction. Across China, overseas visitors line up outside Pop Mart's flagship store on Shanghai's East Nanjing Road, check out trendy beverage shops on Chengdu's Chunxi Road and explore destinations popular among young Chinese consumers.

"The rise of original Chinese brands, IPs and new consumption formats reflects China's growing capacity for innovation," said Tuo Yanzhen, associate professor at the College of Tourism and Service Management of Nankai University.

"Many of these products and experiences first gained popularity at home before reaching overseas markets through social media and cross-border travel. Their appeal among young consumers abroad reflects a rising global demand for personalization, cultural expression and emotional value."

Tuo said China's increasingly sophisticated innovation ecosystem, complete industrial chains and strong manufacturing capabilities are enabling more homegrown ideas to become globally competitive consumer products.