Global Times｜China’s ‘new consumption’ sector witnessing IPO boom, showing rapid industry upgrade
China's "new consumption" sector is witnessing an IPO boom, with a wave of brands ranging from tea chains to lifestyle retailers racing to list overseas, according to a report on Monday. This listing frenzy underscores China's rapid consumption upgrade, where new business models and emerging brands have become primary growth drivers, a Chinese expert said on Monday.
So far this year, Chinese consumer brands such as tea brands Mixue Group, Guming and Chagee have gone public in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or the US. Many other brands, including fast food chains like Lao Xiang Ji and Xiaomian Noodles, are also seeking IPOs, the Securities Times reported on Monday.
This rapid succession of listings has followed the sector's explosive growth and investor enthusiasm. The market performance of these newly listed new-consumption companies has been extraordinary. Mixue's IPO attracted a record HK$1.8 trillion ($231 billion) of orders from retail investors before it started trading, and the share price has since doubled. Similarly, Pop Mart, China's blind box maker and pop culture retailer, has seen its stock price more than double this year, according to the Securities Times.
"New consumption represents a dynamic blend of technological innovation, shifting consumer demands and novel business models," Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday, adding that these new consumption models offer novel consumer experiences, allowing brands to engage with customers in personalized way.
In an article published in the Qi Zhi magazine, Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao emphasized the importance of cultivating new forms of consumption and enhancing consumption momentum, according to the website of the Ministry of Commerce on May 8.
He noted that as technology advances rapidly and consumer demands upgrade, new consumption forms such as digital, green, intelligent and healthy consumption are booming. Efforts should be made to actively nurture new consumer business models, promote the "debut" economy, and drive integration in such forms as "AI + consumption" and "IP + consumption" to foster innovative consumer experiences and spaces.
The overseas IPO wave underscores a broader market shift in China, with consumers increasingly prioritizing quality, customization and niche experiences. Whether it's milk tea or limited-edition blind boxes, these products can meet people's emotional and social needs and China's new consumption economy is demonstrating remarkable resilience, Zhang Yi, CEO of iiMedia Research Institute, told the Global Times.
Zhang noted that these listings are expected to fuel further industry upgrades, with the proceeds typically channeled into supply chain optimization, research and development and brand building, creating spillover benefits for upstream sectors and employment. This creates a virtuous cycle where listed companies continuously innovate to meet growth expectations, ultimately driving consumption upgrades and broader domestic consumption, Zhang said.
China's retail sales, a key indicator of consumption strength, expanded 4.6 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, as government pro-consumption policies took effect.
This growth pace represented an acceleration of 1.1 percentage points over 2024 levels, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), with total retail sales reaching 12.47 trillion yuan in the first quarter. In March alone, retail sales grew 5.9 percent year-on-year, accelerating from the 4 percent growth recorded in the first two months of the year, the NBS said.