Punk-cute Labubu builds global emotional bridges, one grin at a time

FROM FACTORY TO CULTURAL FRONTIER

Labubu has helped shatter the stereotype of Chinese manufacturing as merely cheap and functional. While China has long been the world's factory, few domestic toy brands had global recognition -- until now.

Labubu's explosive popularity today not only marks a leap in China's design capabilities but also signals the emergence of Chinese brands in the global race to build super IPs.

Wang has said he wants to create "the world's Pop Mart, not anyone's copycat." Labubu's runaway success appears to have created a blueprint for this globalization strategy.

Exporting Chinese IP has long been seen as challenging due to cultural and aesthetic differences. But Labubu offers a workaround -- its design has "low cultural thresholds," making it emotionally accessible to diverse audiences, according to a cultural industry researcher.

Labubu is not tied to a fixed storyline, allowing fans to project their own meaning onto it. "Many young people are telling their own stories through Labubu," Wang said. The open-ended narrative also fuels user-generated content and a secondary market, from custom outfits to beauty treatments like fake lashes and rhinestone teeth.

Gu Huijie, who runs a business in Yiwu specializing in doll accessories and outfits, said, "Over half of our orders come from overseas, and the vast majority of our products are headed to the United States." She attributes the surge in demand to the launch of the new Labubu series.

Notably, Labubu's global expansion is deeply localized. Pop Mart has released special Labubu editions customized for different countries, including the Merlion edition for Singapore, the edition dressed in traditional Thai attire for Thailand, and the matador edition for Spain. These one-market-one-plan efforts retain the IP's core identity while catering to local tastes.

Labubu's rise from a niche collectible to a cultural icon exemplifies China's growing creative confidence. Nevertheless, the country's creative prowess has transcended the designer toy boom, with breakthroughs reshaping global industries.

The animated blockbuster "Ne Zha 2" has soared into the top five worldwide box office earners; DeepSeek is reshaping the global AI landscape; "Love and Deepspace," a Chinese-developed hit mobile game, has climbed bestseller charts in multiple countries -- all proving "Created in China" is no longer playing catch-up, but setting the pace.