China’s Box Office Demon Child is Now King of Merch

The huge demand for products related to the hit Chinese animated movie is proving a boon for China’s e-commerce, manufacturing, and tourism sectors. From toothpaste to toys, picture books to clothes, and even milk products and designer bags, the global success of China’s animated box-office smash “Ne Zha 2” has sparked a nationwide frenzy for merchandise. 

Scrambling to meet the surge in demand, manufacturers, toy stores, and tourism departments across China are racing to capitalize on the movie’s popularity.

Alibaba's merchandise sales have already surpassed 300 million yuan ($41.187 million) on their online shopping platforms, Taobao and Tmall.

Indeed, more than two million people have purchased Ne Zha-related merchandise on Taobao, according to the platform's data. Of the 300 million yuan in sales, blind boxes, figurines, trading cards and other trendy collectibles accounted for over 200 million yuan. 

Pop Mart's "Ne Zha 2: Born Bonded" blind-box series has already sold over 100,000 units, with pre-orders now scheduled for delivery by June 30. Those unwilling to wait are turning to the secondhand market, of course. Pop Mart’s blind boxes were originally priced at 69 yuan but are selling for up to 350 yuan on resale platforms like Xianyu. 

Toothpaste brand Mompick saw a 383% increase in sales within just seven days of releasing its co-branded offering, while dairy company Mengniu generated 5 million yuan in sales within 10 days of the movie’s release with three milk products featuring the character, according to e-commerce platform JD.com. 

Even tourism departments are taking every opportunity to promote their local connection with the legend of Ne Zha, who first appeared in the 16th-century novel “Investiture of the Gods”. From February 01 to 07, searches on Alibaba’s online travel platform Fliggy for Jiangyou in the southwestern Sichuan province – one of a number of cities around the country that claims to be the birthplace of the boy demon – surged by 453%. Sichuan’s Luzhou, the hometown of “Ne Zha 2” director Yang Yu, has also been receiving widespread attention. 

“This intellectual property (IP) has created an unexpected level of enthusiasm”, Wei Pengju, director of the Cultural Economics Research Institute at Central University of Finance and Economics, said in an interview with Sixth Tone. “I think it’s even taken the producers of Ne Zha 2 by surprise”. 

On January 29, toy brand FunCrazy, which creates licensed Ne Zha 2 products, launched a crowdfunding project for a range of related products, a common tactic by peripheral product manufacturers to gauge market expectations. As of Tuesday, the campaign had raised 32 million yuan, over 300 times the initial target. The products include acrylic illustrations for 35 yuan, figurines priced at 198 yuan each, and a six-armed Ne Zha figure for 468 yuan.

The Ne Zha excitement is not expected to slow down anytime soon.