Fact box: The rise of ACG merchandise

The growing popularity of anime, comic and game merchandise is an emerging consumption phenomenon in China, with shopping malls increasingly dedicating spaces to stores selling products based on popular ACG intellectual properties.

Two-dimensional culture: In China, ACG fans often refer to the culture as "two-dimensional", representing a distinct community, lifestyle and market.

Market scale and fan base: The scale of the ACG industry in China has expanded significantly in recent years, growing from 18.9 billion yuan ($2.6 billion) in 2016 to 221.9 billion yuan in 2023. As of 2023, the ACG community in China had over 500 million followers, with Generation Z, those born between around 1995 and 2010, forming the largest demographic. A report on the ACG industry revealed that 46 percent of ACG fans are students, while 35 percent are white-collar workers.

Merchandise types: ACG-related merchandise includes badges, posters, cards, keyrings, plastic stands and dolls, typically featuring graphics from popular animations and games. Prices for these items range from 10 yuan to several hundred yuan. Some ACG products, such as badges and cards, are sold in blind boxes, where customers only discover the contents after opening the packaging. The scarcity of certain graphics often leads to price surges in the secondhand market.