摘要：Global Times-Despite a complex international environment, foreign financial institutions have kept on increasing their investment
Global Times-Despite a complex international environment, foreign financial institutions have kept on increasing their investment in Chinese market in 2024, eyeing huge dividends brought about by the country's long-term development potential. At the critical moment for promoting high-quality economic growth, a series of important meetings and pro-growth policies set the direction for the reform and opening-up. This article is one of a series looking back at China's economic work this year and also sheds light on domestic consumption.
尽管国际环境复杂，2024 年外国金融机构仍继续增加对中国市场的投资，看好由中国长期发展潜力带来的巨大红利。在推动高质量经济增长的关键时刻，一系列重要会议和促增长政策为改革开放指明了方向。本文是回顾今年中国经济工作的一系列文章之一，也聚焦于国内消费。
This year's economic buzzwords would be incomplete without the youth-driven "goods economy," a consumer phenomenon rooted in anime, comic, and game (ACG) culture. The new consumption trend has recently made waves in the A-share market, it marks the rise of a new consumer demographic that underscores the vitality of China's economy.
今年的经济热词中，如果没有以年轻人为主的“谷子经济”这一消费现象，将是不完整的。这一消费趋势根植于动漫、漫画和游戏（ACG）文化，最近在 A 股市场引起了关注，标志着中国经济活力中一个新的消费者群体的崛起。
The "goods economy" pronounces as guzi jingji in Chinese. It originates from ACG culture, specifically referring to merchandise deriving from content-centric goods like comics, animations, video games, idols, and tokusatsu (a Japanese word that literally means "special effects"), including items like badges, posters, cards, keychains, standees, figurines, and dolls.
"goods economy" 读作 guzi jingji。它源自 ACG 文化，具体指的是以内容为中心的商品，如漫画、动画、视频游戏、偶像和特摄（特摄是日语，直译为“特殊效果”）等衍生商品，包括徽章、海报、卡片、钥匙扣、立牌、人偶和玩偶等。
A 26-year-old ACG fan surnamed Xu told the Global Times on Tuesday that she initially spent around 3,000 yuan ($412) per month, but after collecting a good number of ACG-related items, her spending has since dropped to about 1,000 yuan per month now. Xu mostly buys plush toys, including items like badges, holographic tickets, bracelets, and necklaces.
姓徐的 26 岁 ACG 爱好者周二告诉《环球时报》，她最初每月花费大约 3000 元（约合 412 美元），但在收集了不少 ACG 相关物品后，现在的月花费已经下降到大约 1000 元。徐主要购买毛绒玩具，包括徽章、全息票、手链和项链等。
"The design has to be appealing first, and I would consider its value, like whether it was released on a special date. The emotional value of the goods outweighs the material value - whenever I'm feeling stressed, taking a look at them really helps me unwind the pressure," Xu said.
设计首先要吸引人，我会考虑它的价值，比如是否在特殊日期发布。商品的情感价值超过了物质价值——无论我感觉多紧张，看看它们都能帮助我放松压力，徐先生说。
Dong Jiayu, another ACG "goods" enthusiast from Southwest China's Yunnan Province, also spoke highly of the emotional value of the "goods" which bring to her whenever she feels bored.
来自中国西南云南省的另一位 ACG“谷子”爱好者东嘉宇，也对她感到无聊时“谷子”带给她的情感价值给予了高度评价。
"It's like putting on nice home décor, and having them neatly displayed in my room with all my favorite ACG characters will truly refresh me. When I'm tired from busy work or studying, just seeing them stay there gives me a boost of motivation," Dong told the Global Times.
“这就像在家里布置了一些漂亮的装饰品，把所有我最喜欢的 ACG 角色整齐地摆放在我的房间里，真的能让我感到焕然一新。当我因为忙碌的工作或学习而感到疲惫时，只要看到它们在那里，就能给我带来动力。”东告诉《环球时报》。
"Goods" consumption offers Generation Z a platform to express their emotions and individuality, embodying the concept of 'investing in happiness,' Zhang Yi, CEO of the iiMedia Research Institute, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
“谷子”消费为 Z 世代提供了一个表达情感和个性的平台，体现了“投资快乐”的概念，iiMedia 研究机构 CEO 张毅周二在接受《环球时报》采访时表示。
"Goods" culture, with its strong social implications, has become a new way for young people to interact and connect with one another. The rapid rise of the "goods economy" shows that young people in China are increasingly focused on achieving self-fulfillment, which will shore up happiness-inducing consumption, Zhang said.
“谷子”文化，因其强烈的社会含义，已成为年轻人相互交流和连接的新方式。张表示，“谷子经济”的迅速崛起表明，中国年轻人越来越注重自我实现，这将支撑起幸福感的消费。
In recent years, ACG has shifted from a niche business to a growing mainstream phenomenon, with its core user base expanding continuously, creating a vast potential consumer market for the so-called "goods economy."
近年来，ACG 从一项小众业务转变为一个日益流行的主流现象，其核心用户基础不断扩展，为所谓的“谷子经济”创造了巨大的潜在消费市场。
According to iiMedia Research, the market size of China's "goods economy" hit 120.1 billion yuan in 2023, which is predicted to reach 168.9 billion yuan in 2024. With the development of the broader ACG ecosystem and related derivative markets, the "goods economy" is expected to stage sizzling growth in the coming years, with some forecasts claiming the sector's market size will likely reach around 309 billion yuan by 2029.
根据 iiMedia Research 的数据，中国“谷子经济”的市场规模在 2023 年达到 1201 亿元，预计 2024 年将达到 1689 亿元。随着更广泛的 ACG 生态系统及相关衍生市场的不断发展，“谷子经济”预计将在未来几年迎来火爆增长，有预测认为该领域的市场规模到 2029 年可能将达到约 3090 亿元。
More than 10,000 new ACG- related companies were registered from January to November 2024, marking a 14 percent year-on-year increase. At the end of November, the total number of ACG businesses surpassed 64,000, showed data from corporate information platform Tianyancha.com.
从 2024 年 1 月到 11 月，新注册的 ACG 相关公司超过 10,000 家，同比增长 14%。天眼查数据显示，截至 11 月底，ACG 企业总数超过 64,000 家。
The consumption potential of Generation Z youngsters will continue to grow, analysts said.
分析师表示，Z 世代的消费潜力将继续增长。
In May, topics like "Goods stores helping save old malls" even trended on major Chinese social media platforms. Some traditional shopping malls, in the process of being transformed, have leveraged the expanding anime and gaming market by introducing "goods stores" and "goods markets," which have drawn considerable attention from Generation Z shoppers.
在五月，像“谷子商店助力老商场重生”这样的话题甚至登上了主要的中文社交媒体平台热搜。一些传统商场在转型过程中，利用扩大的动漫和游戏市场，引入了“谷子店”和“谷子市场”，吸引了大量 Z 世代消费者的关注。
For example, the X118 Mall on Jianghan Road in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province, saw its foot traffic surge 10-fold after introducing a "goods" store that helped bring a new life to the mall, according to iiMedia Research.
例如，位于中国中部湖北省武汉市江汉路的 X118 商场在引入了一个“谷子”店之后，客流量激增了 10 倍，据 iiMedia Research 称，这给商场带来了新的活力。
Moreover, the "goods economy" is starting to influence other sectors. For example, following the debut of China's heated online game "Black Myth: Wukong" in August this year, its filming locations have obtained significant attention, especially in North China's Shanxi Province, where much of the game was shot. As a result, people's searching interest in Shanxi's hot tourism sites went up by more than 20 percent in August compared to a year earlier, data from the travel platform Tongcheng Travel showed.
此外，“谷子经济”开始影响其他领域。例如，今年 8 月中国热门在线游戏《黑神话：悟空》首秀后，其拍摄地受到了显著关注，尤其是游戏大部分场景是在中国北方的山西省拍摄的。数据显示，携程旅行平台的数据显示，与去年同期相比，8 月份人们对山西省热门旅游景点的搜索兴趣上升了超过 20%。
The "goods economy" has gained traction among investors in the A-share market, particularly in the second half of this year. According to Wind.com data, the Wind Goods Economy Index rose by a remarkable 38.89 percent from August 1 to December 4.
“谷子经济”在今年下半年的 A 股市场中受到了投资者的关注，特别是今年后半年。据 Wind.com 数据显示，从 8 月 1 日到 12 月 4 日，Wind 的谷子经济指数上涨了 38.89%。
Chinese consumers' demand for ACG consumption is constantly building up, driven by the country's economic resilience as well as deeper demographic shifts, according to a report by the CITIC Securities.
中国消费者对 ACG 消费的需求不断增长，这得益于国家经济的韧性以及更深层次的人口结构变化，据中信证券的报告称。
On the supply side, China benefits from abundant high-quality ACG resources and an increasingly skilled talent pool. On the demand side, rising cultural confidence, broader audience engagement, and rising consumer spending are set to fuel the new sector's growth, the CITIC Securities said.
在中国供应方面，中国得益于丰富的高质量 ACG 资源和日益 熟练的人才池。在需求方面，文化自信的提升、观众参与度的扩大以及消费者支出的增加将推动该新领域的增长，中信证券如是说。
The recently held agenda-setting Central Economic Work Conference in Beijing stressed that efforts should be made to vigorously boost domestic consumption in 2025. "Work is needed to innovate more diversified consumption scenarios, expand service consumption, and promote the development of cultural tourism," the meeting noted.
最近在北京召开的中央经济工作会议强调，应在 2025 年大力促进国内消费。会议指出，“需要创新更多样化的消费场景，扩大服务消费，促进文化旅游的发展。”
And, the "goods economy" is expected to demonstrate robust growth, which will create a sizable market worth hundreds of billions in the future, Zhang said.
并且，“谷子经济”预计将会表现出强劲的增长，这将创造一个在未来价值数百亿的巨大市场，张说。
来源：沐南财经
