Muji China’s results are outstanding: What does it say about China and navigating economic tailwinds?
Ryohin Keikaku, the Japanese company that owns Muji, closed its fiscal year 2025-26 with revenue of JPY 784 billion, up 18.6%. It achieved operating profit of JPY 74 billion (+ 31%), which are record results for the Japanese brand. Mainland China same-store sales and e-commerce sales grew 10% for the year and even accelerated to […]
Decoding the ugly cute trend in China: Why imperfection is the new cool
Why imperfection is the new cool For decades, the global aesthetic standard, particularly in East Asia, has been dominated by the pursuit of “perfection.” From filtered social media photos to the rigid “white, young, and skinny” beauty ideals, the pressure to look flawless has been immense. However, a counter-movement is sweeping through China, challenging this […]
The restaurant industry in China: How brands rebuild margins after the price war
In the last quarter of 2025, Pizza Hut’s restaurants in China served 13% more customers than a year earlier. This marks twelve straight quarters of rising traffic, but earned about 11% less per customer. That was a deliberate trade that reflects a wider trend in the restaurant industry in China. Chinese restaurants fed more people […]
Ice cups in China: The cheap cup China’s drink giants are fighting over
An ice cup is a sealed plastic cup of edible ice, usually around 160 grams, sold for RMB 2 to RMB 3 in convenience stores and on delivery apps. Buyers take it back to a desk or a sofa and pour in their own coffee, tea, juice or beer. Offline sales of ice cups in […]
Mid-Autumn Festival consumer trends: Families gather away from home, while mooncakes are giving way to other gifts
The Mid-Autumn Festival in China, the second-largest traditional festival after the Spring Festival, is a time to celebrate the harvest and give thanks to nature, and it is often linked to a sense of family and national identity as well as cultural identity. While its most foundational essence remains family reunion, harmony, and familial affection, […]
How Koreans spent 2026 Chuseok in Korea
Chuseok (추석), often referred to as Korea’s version of the Mid-Autumn Festival in China, is one of the largest celebrations in South Korea. The festival occurs on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month each year and is legally recognized as a three-day holiday, including the day before and after. In 2026, the Chuseok […]
Why Route-to-market (RTM) in China has changed, and a few perspectives on how to navigate it
The pace of change and the intertwining of online and offline sales make China route-to-market projects all the more complex in 2026. 1. The retail landscape is being constantly redrawn Things are changing fast in retail in China. Pangdonglai (胖东来 in Chinese), a provincial grocery chain from Henan, which was unknown outside of China only […]
Rolex in China: why the crown is taking control of retail and resale
Updated in October 2026. First published in September 2019. Rolex in 3 figures CHF 11.0 bn Estimated Rolex sales in 2025, up 4% (Morgan Stanley and LuxeConsult) 32.9% Rolex share of Swiss watch retail value in 2025 USD 229 m Certified pre-owned sales in Q3 2026, up 61% (global estimate) There is a saying in […]
Consulting in China: How Daxue Consulting helps foreign companies enter and grow
A foreign company that hires a consulting firm in China in 2026 is usually buying answers to three questions: where in China its product has a real market, how much of the business it should own, and which channels deserve the budget this year. The third answer changes faster than most head offices plan. Daxue […]
China beer market 2026: flat volumes, rising value and a split at the top
China’s beer market has quietly flipped the script. For twenty years the game was volume: cheap lager, big bottles, more banquets. That game is over. Breweries above designated size produced 35.36 million kiloliters in 2025, slightly less than the year before, according to NBS data reported by Yicai. Yet the industry made more money than […]
China’s OTC market: How Chinese self-care is being redefined
China’s OTC market has matured around traditional symptom-relief and household medicine categories. However, growth is increasingly coming from more specialized self-care needs, while changes in consumer lifestyles, treatment priorities, and purchasing channels are reshaping which products gain prominence. China’s OTC market is mature, but growth is shifting between categories China’s OTC market remained at approximately […]
Will GLP-1 drugs help control China’s impending obesity epidemic? Behind the burgeoning popularity of Ozempic in China
Introduced for type-2 diabetes in the diabetes treatment market in China, Ozempic is a brand name for semaglutide, a member of the GLP-1 drug class. GLP-1 drugs mimic a natural hormone that stimulates insulin production, reduces glucagon release, and helps regulate blood glucose levels. Side effects of these drugs, such as delayed gastric emptying and appetite suppression, turn […]