A concise yet holistic summary of February 2025’s key marketing developments in China, highlighting valuable insights and their implications for brands.

The record-breaking triumph of Ne Zha 2 confirms that compelling storytelling, rooted in Chinese culture and reflective of current societal sentiment, can profoundly influence consumer behaviour.

If you're living in a developed country, there's a chance you may have seen a few robots since the pandemic began. In the US, labour shortages, coupled with robots being covid-free has driven the recent adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered robots for everything from coffee delivery to making fresh, hot pizzas and customised hamburgers in minutes from deep inside a vending machine.

U.S. studios' share of box office continues to shrink, which may contribute to nationalism in both China and the West

Don't underestimate the importance of bricks & mortar touch points in China, and ensure they are integrated and optimised for consumer needs

2003 was the year that China surpassed the EU for greenhouse emissions. By 2019, emissions from China were more than four times that of the EU’s 27 member states combined, and over 30% more per capita. In 2019 China accounted for 27% of global emissions, exceeding the entire emissions from the Developed World for the first time.

Happy Niu Year! For our readers who had a break, we hope it was great.Digital platforms have long been more advanced and deeply entrenched in Chinese lives than anywhere. Back in 2017, for every dollar that American consumers spent on mobile payments, Chinese consumers shelled out $250. China's ecommerce market is the largest and most dynamic in the world. 22% of consumers globally are likely to buy groceries online, whereas 59% of Chinese do. While livestreaming is barely visible in most markets, 388 million Chinese viewed it in December, with more than two-thirds making a purchase.

Tomorrow is the night that Chinese believe the full moon is at its brightest, shining on farmers for the mid-Autumn harvest. To celebrate, many of China’s 1.4 billion people will have hung lanterns and gifted sweet mooncakes filled with red-bean or lotus-seed paste. It is also the beginning of the much-anticipated 8-day national holiday.

The global pandemic has brought about much soul searching. Lockdowns and general uncertainty has given consumers around the world the impetus to reflect on what is important to them. This reflection has been echoed by businesses and we have even seen this at a government level in some countries.

While some of our readers outside of China will be looking as beautiful or handsome as ever, many of you are likely to be a little unkempt, sporting a COVID-cut and just off a video call wearing your pyjama pants. That was the situation for many in China during its lockdown too.

It's incredible to think that the majority of China's 1.4 billion people were housebound last week, and many continue to be so. For a large number, it is self-enforced. Most Chinese are already health-focused and the real time coronavirus updates whirling around social media haven't inspired many to take a trip to the cinema or gym.

On those long, lonely evenings, what could be better than snuggling up to your smartphone and streaming video content? Out with friends at a hip restaurant – no better place to watch another set of streams. Waiting for the elevator or even in traffic on your electric bike, it would be a missed opportunity if you weren’t watching more on your screen.

Marketers, sales managers, product developers and strategists the world over are increasingly using data to help form decisions. Fortunately in China, we have a greater depth and breadth of data than anywhere else. Not only do Chinese use their smartphones (and faces) more frequently, across a broader array of online and offline occasions, they are also among the least concerned about data privacy globally. China Skinny uses our own in-house tools to tap into China’s vast banks of data to provide macro and granular views of consumers’ preferences and trends. These can impact everything from communications, branding and product development, to the channels and influencers you use.

In 2012 in the city of Wuhu, Anhui, a former street vendor and motorcycle taxi operator named Liaoyuan Zhang, left his job selling nuts to start his own nut company. In just 65 days, the company – Three Squirrels – became the top selling nuts brand on Tmall and within a couple of years, was said to be the top-selling food brand online. On Singles’ Day last year, it took less than 10 minutes to sell ¥100 million ($14.2 million) worth of snacks. The recently-listed company now has a market cap of close to $3 billion.

A little over seven years ago, our fledging little marketing agency wrote its first Weekly Skinny. The topics of the day were common myths about Chinese consumers, the importance of female consumers, food scandals, fakes and 300 million+ users on Weibo. On the surface, the subject matters weren’t too different from those today. Yet open the hood and you see a Chinese consumer, national swagger and marketing landscape that is almost unrecognisable from 2012.

Fancy a tonic favoured by Chinese emperors that cures painful joints, frail kidneys, and weakness and anemia in women? Or how about a milk beverage that will enlarge your breasts from an A-cup to a D? Perhaps a coconut drink that whitens your skin and will make you more buxom?

We have just passed the 200-day mark of the US-China trade war, and what a 200 days it has been! Whilst we are finally seeing some positive signs that an agreement could be imminent, there has been plenty of commentary about the beating that America’s reputation has taken in China.

While you may be lamenting the need to constantly evolve your marketing mix to stay ahead in China, you can rest assured that even WeChat faces a similar challenge.