Emotional spending key to balancing economy

From blind boxes and concert tickets to anime merchandise and AI-powered companions, a wave of spending driven by emotional satisfaction is sweeping across China, reshaping the nation's consumer landscape from a niche trend into an important economic driver, analysts said.

The term "emotional consumption" refers to spending driven by feelings of pleasure, identity, social connection or stress relief, rather than basic functional needs.

Wei Jianguo, former vice-minister of commerce, said the trend is not a short-lived fad but a natural outcome of China's ongoing consumption upgrade.

"The days when consumption was simply about acquiring things are fading," Wei said."The new consumer wants to feel something — joy, nostalgia, excitement. Delivering those feelings is not just good business; it is essential for macroeconomic balance.

"Emotional consumption is a trillion-yuan new growth pole to unlock China's future market," Wei added.

China's market for emotional consumption is projected to exceed 4.5 trillion yuan ($620 billion) by 2029, up from 2.72 trillion yuan in 2025, according to a report released by iiMedia Research in mid-May.

Multiple factors are fueling the rise. As consumers become more affluent, their spending priorities are shifting from basic goods to experiences, personal fulfillment and mental well-being, said Jiang Zhao, an associate researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

The concert economy, for example, has exploded. A three-show run by a top artist can draw hundreds of thousands of out-of-town fans, generating ripple effects on transportation, accommodation and dining, he added.

During the five-day May Day holiday earlier this month, Beijing staged 332 commercial performances totaling 1,684 shows, generating ticket revenue of about 260 million yuan, according to online travel platform Trip.com Group.

One act alone — the Taiwan rock band Mayday — played three concerts that attracted more than 150,000 fans. For many of those attendees, a three-hour show became the catalyst for a 72-hour in-depth exploration of Beijing, helping push the city's tourist arrivals and consumption to record highs.

Jiang also noted that the younger generations, in particular, are willing to pay a premium for products and services that deliver happiness, nostalgia or a sense of belonging.

Nearly nine out of 10 young Chinese have spent money on emotional consumption. Nearly 40 percent do so frequently and about one-fifth of young consumers report engaging in emotional consumption every day, according to a two-year tracking study by the Shanghai Youth and Children Research Center and the social platform Soul App.

The study found that the post-1995 and post-2000 generations together account for nearly 70 percent of emotional consumption, with the post-2000 cohort showing the highest frequency.

This year, for the first time, emotional consumption was explicitly mentioned in multiple local government work reports. Jiangxi province pledged to foster new business models and "formats for emotional consumption", for instance.

The policy shift signals that emotional consumption has evolved from a market-led phenomenon into a State-backed lever for expanding domestic demand, experts said.

Zhang Wenkui, a researcher at the Development Research Center of the State Council, said that China's consumption of goods is already on par with developed nations in many respects.

"The real gap lies in service consumption," Zhang said, noting that China's value-added services account for less than 60 percent of GDP, compared with about 70 percent in developed economies.

Zhang said that expanding service consumption — including but not limited to emotional spending — is "the critical breakthrough" for rebalancing China's economy and making growth more sustainable.