The doll "Labubu" from the domestic trendy toy brand Pop Mart has become popular all over the world, causing a buying frenzy. In addition to Labubu, Pop Mart also has Molly, Pucky, and other dolls that are equally popular. These popular IPs are all from Hong Kong artists, reflecting that Hong Kong is not short of cultural and creative talents.
The "intellectual property (IP) economy" brings unlimited business opportunities. Some economists believe that the government can provide a platform, such as holding competitions to discover more talents; Hong Kong creators can use mainland companies to invest and market, commercialize IP, enter the mainland market, and enter overseas.
The new policy address will be announced in September, and public consultation will start next week. Some scholars and Legislative Council members hope that the government will increase its efforts to promote the creative industry and introduce more new measures to systematically and systematically transform local creations into business opportunities, especially by combining mainland resources, marketing at home and abroad, and giving full play to Hong Kong's "internal and external connections" advantages, so that the second and third Labubu of local creations will come one after another.
Hong Kong is not short of cultural and creative talents
Hong Kong has unique advantages in exploring new tracks. Hong Kong has many outstanding cultural and creative artists, from Old Master Q to McDull, and Labubu, which has become popular in recent years and was designed by Hong Kong designer Long Jiasheng, has successively produced handmade figurines, models, and peripheral products. Among them, Labubu has strong money-making power. From the beginning of 2024 to now, the stock price of Pop Mart has increased by more than 11 times. According to the financial report released by Pop Mart in March this year, the revenue of The Monsters series, to which Labubu belongs, soared 7 times to RMB 3.04 billion (equivalent to HK$3.24 billion) last year, a year-on-year increase of 726.6%. JPMorgan Chase even estimates that by 2027, sales of the series will increase to RMB 14 billion (equivalent to HK$14.91 billion), which is more than 4.6 times that of 2024; the new and rarer Labubu has been sold from the original price of RMB 599 to RMB 27,999, an increase of nearly 46 times. It can be seen that Labubu and its related series are a super IP with great economic benefits.
According to data from the International Licensing Industry Association, China will surpass Germany to become the world's fourth-largest IP retail market in 2023, with annual IP retail sales approaching RMB 100 billion. With the support of the motherland, Hong Kong's IP economy has great potential. Economist and Executive Director of the Lau Chor-tak Institute of Global Economics and Finance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Chong Tai-leung, believes that Hong Kong does not lack cultural and creative talents. The comics, cartoons, illustration characters, and movie characters created over the years are very popular among local and even overseas people, but to successfully industrialize brand characters and form an "intellectual property (IP) economy", there is often a lack of funds and manufacturers.
Finding a "Bo Le" for the commercialization of Hong Kong IP
Chuang Tai-leung believes that to commercialize Hong Kong's original IP works, it is necessary to find a "Bo Le". There are currently many large-scale cultural and creative companies in the Mainland. As long as both parties cooperate, the products can be promoted through the production of toys or fine products, combined with online promotion and marketing. He suggested that the SAR government can assist in many aspects, including protecting intellectual property rights, providing a more convenient way for original creators to register their works, and holding cultural and creative competitions to discover more cultural and creative talents. Relevant government departments can act as "middlemen" to help original creators find companies and enterprises for production.
"Hong Kong IP has the potential to go international!" Legislative Council member Hong Wen said that Hong Kong has unique advantages in the field of IP creation, but it is currently only at the top of the industrial chain. If it can develop to the middle and lower reaches, it will contribute more to the local gross domestic product (GDP), employment, and other economic contributions. She pointed out that creating an IP incubation environment requires a multi-pronged approach. On the one hand, we can learn from the experience of the United Kingdom, South Korea and other places, rely on government policy support, and build an investment and financing system such as angel funds and seed funds in the cultural, creative, artistic and sports fields; in addition, we can also implement the positioning of the international IP trading platform in the "14th Five-Year Plan", change the current situation where the Hong Kong Trade Development Council platform only has the function of "yellow pages", and build a complete trading ecosystem including legal and related talents. Hong Wen emphasized that promoting the IP industry is crucial to the diversification and physical transformation of Hong Kong's industries and the stimulation of young people's creative enthusiasm, and hopes that the SAR government will focus on promoting it in the new policy address.
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