Two of China's fastest growing categories - pets and TCM - are converging, creating a booming niche category that provides hints for other convergence opportunities in China

Following the robotic dogs, CASIO's latest innovation, the AI pet Moflin, is broadening horizons of what these pets can be. Beyond AI pet healthcare and smart supplies, AI is spawning exciting product placement opportunities related to pets.

Just like us, pets need to beat the heat during the sweltering summer months. From stylish cooling mats and pads, to ice collars and breezy apparel, a wave of functional and fashionable products has been heating up China's pet supplies market, creating promising seasonal opportunities.

Chinese youth have embraced Jellycats, stones, even mango seeds as another kind of ‘pets.‘ These alternatives provide emotional value without the time-consuming and attentive pet-caring routines.

Chinese fresh food O2O platform Dingdong Maicai has become a cyber ‘flower, bird and fish market’ in addition to offering regular fresh food to expand business scope and attract young customers. You can find many ‘whacky‘ things there…

Pet chickens are just one example of lifestyle decisions that youth are making as they become more aware of their mental states

China’s Year of the Dragon is its most auspicious and 2024’s zodiac brings many new trends and opportunities for brands

China’s big retailers including Sam’s Club, Costco and Hema are selling more innovative CNY packaging than ever, but the highlight are pet CNY gift packs aligned to the pet equality culture

Pet strategies in China are now taking hold at a more grassroots level, and spanning categories from health to retail

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

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.

Skinny readers who’ve been with us for a while may remember when we hypothesised how retailers would be able to tap into China’s facial recognition with consumer scenarios in 2019 and beyond. The anticipated opportunities were the result of China’s leadership in facial recognition tech, coupled with its liberal policies and consumer attitudes towards the privacy. While cities such as San Francisco and Portland have banned the use of facial recognition, the technology has flourished in China with numerous marketing applications. Unfortunately many have been unscrupulous.

Happy 2021. With China being the only major country to grow its GDP in 2020, economists the world over have been dialling up their forecasts of China's relative might in the years ahead. The Chinese economy is now expected to be larger than the US by 2028, presenting enormous opportunities for everything from milk to Maseratis.

Pets were denounced as bourgeois vanity by Chairman Mao which saw China late to the game of keeping pets as companions. But this has changed in recent years, driven by political, economic, societal and technological drivers, and accelerated by Covid. Now more than 500 million pet lovers embrace them online. The infographic below provides some of the more interesting data points about China’s online pet group of more than 500 million who now adore our canine and feline friends…

Many execs from the world’s luxury brands are likely to be toasting the resilient Chinese consumers who are the bright spot in otherwise abysmal sales. As LMVH’s global sales contracted 38% between April to June, consumers in China shelled out 65% more on their fashion and leather goods than a year earlier. Similarly, Kering’s worldwide revenue declined 29%, whereas sales in China grew 40%. Tiffany’s China sales were up 90% in May from 2019 while they fell 45% in the US in the first half of the year. The list goes on…

One of the groovy innovations we spotted at the Taobao Maker Festival last month was from Wu Qiuqiao, the Hunan-based cat hanfu designer. Who is the cat hanfu designer?

The coronavirus is likely to change the face of retail the world over. Brick & mortar retailers have taken the double-hit of falling consumer spending, and a pivot to ecommerce as consumers seek to minimise their risk of infection in public spaces.

Last week was a big week for dogs in China: China’s agriculture ministry released a draft classifying them as pets not livestock. The announcement follows February’s nationwide ban on the trade and consumption of wildlife in China following widespread suspicions that that the COVID-19 outbreak stemmed from the virus being transmitted from wild animals to humans.