Customers purchase products at a POP MART store in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 21, 2025. (Xinhua/Jia Haocheng)
BEIJING, June 13 (Xinhua) -- China has long been the world's largest toy producer and exporter. According to the latest data, the country's toy exports (excluding games) exceeded 3 billion U.S. dollars in March, up 6.4 percent year on year. With the industry's efforts to reinvent itself, it has fostered new growth drivers.
-- IP-driven growth
With sheep horns shaped like the pleats of shrimp dumplings, a tray featuring steamer texture, and a base that plays the calls of Cantonese morning tea, the original intellectual property (IP) toy "Curly Lamb" became an instant hit upon release.
In recent years, integrating IP with toys has added collectible and social value, driving a clear trend towards trendy toys.
Inside the exhibition hall of Guangdong Senbao Culture Industrial Co., Ltd., a "creative kingdom" built with building bricks showcases numerous popular IP collaborations. From blind boxes to building sets, figurines to plush toys, popular IPs have become a key driving force for the development of the toy industry. Transforming trendy artworks into tangible trendy toys has become an important innovation strategy for many cultural enterprises.
Data from the China Toy and Juvenile Products Association (CTJPA) revealed that in 2024, the retail sales of trendy and collectible toys in China reached 46.57 billion yuan (about 6.48 billion U.S. dollars).
Huang Liang, executive vice president of the Chenghai Toys Association, said that the integration modes such as "toys + IP" and "toys + culture," will be further enhanced in the future, promoting the transformation of the toy industry from traditional manufacturing towards high-end intelligence and cultural creativity.
-- AI-powered innovation
Recently, a talking, dancing "Sunflower" toy went viral on Chinese social media. With its own "personality," it can generate stories based on individual needs, answer children's questions, and offer companionship.
With the deep integration of "AI + hardware," AI toys are emerging as a key application area for large models. Startups like FoloToy and Yijia Yiban have already entered this burgeoning market.
Toys integrated with AI technology further highlight the feature of edutainment. Many AI toys now integrate technologies such as speech recognition, natural language processing, and machine learning, evolving from simple interactive toys into intelligent devices that can provide education, entertainment, and even foreign language practice functions.
A staff with the CTJPA highlighted this trend, taking story machines as an example. Compared with the past versions in which stories were pre-recorded, the current models can now achieve a certain degree of "self-upgrading," so that the content update cycle is further shortened. As more toy companies adopt AI, product innovation will accelerate, unlocking greater market potential.
Reports indicate the AI toy market is growing significantly faster than the traditional toy sector. The global AI toy market is projected to exceed 35 billion U.S. dollars by 2030.
-- Industrial chain-based synergy
The staff of the CTJPA also said that China's toy industry benefits from distinct industrial clusters and a complete supply chain, encompassing raw materials, equipment, manufacturing, testing, market development, and export trade. Innovation and industrial chains now work in concert to rapidly transform technological advances into market-ready products.
Dubbed the "Toy Capital," the Chenghai District of Shantou City in Guangdong Province, is home to over 300,000 new toy designs produced annually, with over 1,000 new products daily on average. This staggering pace relies on close collaboration between designers, manufacturers, and other stakeholders. Besides, toy makers are also forging partnerships with clothing and sports brands, driving cross-industry innovation.
The practice of "small-scale pre-sale testing" before mass production is now common in the industry. Enterprises can also choose flexible and personalized manufacturing based on sales data. "Cellular production lines," capable of handling orders as small as 500 units, are gradually replacing the traditional model requiring 100,000-unit minimums.
"The toy supply chain is increasingly defined by technology, cultural enrichment and cross-sector collaboration," said the CTJPA staff. Moving forward, the focus will be on strengthening the cultivation and protection of original IP, deepening cross-industry integration, and enhancing product quality and design to deliver superior products and drive high-quality industry growth.
(Edited by Li Shimeng with Xinhua Silk Road, lishimeng@xinhua.org)
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