Economic Watch: Int'l brands gallop into hearts of young Chinese consumers in Year of the Horse

BEIJING, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- One day before Chinese New Year, 26-year-old Wang Wei carefully peeled off the red paper bearing the Chinese character "Fu" hung on his family's wall, part of an annual ritual of replacing old decorations with new ones to welcome good fortune in the new year.

In its place, he mounted a string of bright red firecrackers, not made of paper and gunpowder, but LEGO bricks.

"As a LEGO fan, I never thought that our traditional customs could be brought to life so vividly through bricks," Wang said. "It reminds me of the joy of setting off real firecrackers when I was a child, and the God of Wealth figurine inside also carries an auspicious meaning," he added.

The firecracker set is part of the Year of the Horse limited-edition collection launched by the LEGO Group. Since 2019, the Danish toymaker has rolled out 16 Chinese New Year-themed sets, ranging from zodiac animals to other traditional festive decorations steeped in Chinese cultural symbolism.

Across China, international brands are racing to launch Spring Festival collections, from cosmetics and clothing to home decor, an annual marketing drive targeting the world's second-largest consumer market.

For years, multinational companies have tapped into the 12 Chinese zodiac signs as a marketing strategy for the Chinese market. Today, however, many are taking a more thoughtful approach, weaving Chinese cultural elements into both product design and brand storytelling as they adapt to a market increasingly shaped by cultural confidence.

The LEGO Group, for example, drew on its Chinese designers to develop its Spring Festival series and sought extensive consumer feedback to better understand the real needs of Chinese shoppers.

"China is the only market where we design exclusive products for local festivals like Chinese New Year," said Maciek Selinski, head of LEGO China, in a recent interview with Xinhua. "We conduct in-depth research and will continue to deepen these efforts to explore how China-inspired ideas can resonate globally," he added.

IKEA is another standout, having launched a dedicated Spring Festival collection for five consecutive years. For its latest edition, the Swedish home furnishings giant gathered folk culture scholars and inheritors of intangible cultural heritage in Xi'an, the capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, to examine how traditional Chinese New Year rituals can be more seamlessly integrated into contemporary lifestyles.

As younger generations in China embrace tradition and assert their cultural identity with greater enthusiasm, IKEA said it has adopted a youthful, modern design language for its Spring Festival collection. The aim, it noted, is to resonate not only with consumers in China, but also to build an emotional connection with Chinese people around the world.

According to analysts, the strategic shift by multinational brands reflects a broader trend in the Chinese market. Zhu Keli, founding dean of the China Institute of New Economy, said China's economic rise has boosted cultural confidence among young consumers, who now value cultural affinity and shared values more than default admiration for foreign brands.

The short-term marketing model of superficially incorporating Chinese cultural elements has largely lost its appeal, and may even trigger a backlash if deemed superficial or inauthentic, Zhu said.

Creating more substantive crossovers between East and West, he added, is not only one of the distinctive opportunities for multinationals operating in China but also a potential wellspring of broader global appeal.

Denis Depoux, global managing director of Roland Berger, said in a recent interview with Global Times that China is not only a vast consumer market but is emerging as a wellspring of innovation and a benchmark for competitiveness.

By leveraging the innovative achievements of "Creation in China" and "Design in China," multinational enterprises are well-positioned to enhance their global competitiveness, he said. ■