"Even If My Wallet Is Empty, As Long As I'm Happy"…Chinese Gen Z Obsessed with Goods [China Spotlight]

Emergence of New Terms Like Eolcheuwen and Gokja Economy
Phrases Like "Eating Millet" and "Millet Eaters" Gain Popularity

A 'happy consumption boom' is sweeping through China's Generation Z (those born between 1995 and 2009). As more young people enjoy subcultures such as animation, comics, and games, consumption of various goods like figures, badges, postcards, posters, clothing, and daily necessities is surging among the youth.

China Economic Net recently focused on the phenomenon of the goods market expanding as goods grow into a means of communication and culture for Generation Z. The newspaper reported, "Generation Z tends to have high loyalty to the content they prefer," adding, "New business forms related to content, such as content creation, product sales, and cultural tourism services, are emerging beyond simple consumption."

Image to assist the above article. Pixabay.

As more Generation Z individuals enjoy content like comics, animation, games, movies, and idols, a new term, Eolcheuwen (二次元), has emerged to describe them. The consumption of Eolcheuwen goods is called the 'Gokja (millet·穀子) economy.' The Chinese pronunciation of Gokja sounds similar to the English word 'goods.' In Generation Z's language, the act of purchasing goods is expressed as 'eating millet' (吃穀), and people who like goods are called 'millet eaters' (吃穀人).

According to the "China Secondary Content Industry White Paper," from 2016 to 2023, the scale of China's Eolcheuwen industry increased from 18.9 billion yuan to 221.9 billion yuan (approximately 44 trillion 1.16 billion KRW). The goods industry scale also rose accordingly, growing from 5.3 billion yuan in 2016 to 102.3 billion yuan in 2023. The "2024-2025 China Gokja Economy Market Analysis Report" states that the goods industry scale will increase by 40% year-on-year in 2024, reaching 168.9 billion yuan. It is expected that by 2029, the market size will exceed 300 billion yuan.

China's IP licensing industry is also rapidly growing. Strategy Helix, a market research firm specializing in IP licensing, forecasts that China's IP licensing market will grow from 100 billion yuan in 2021 to 191 billion yuan by 2027. This represents an average annual growth rate of 11.9%, more than twice China's economic growth rate of 4.5% to 5.0%.

The secondhand trading platform Xianyu revealed that Generation Z accounts for a large portion of goods purchases. It analyzed that 70% of goods buyers were born after 1995, and 25% were born after 2005.

For Generation Z, goods are not just simple products. They represent a process of building emotional bonds with characters from comics, animation, and games. Wang Lin (25) said in an interview that she spends 4,000 yuan annually on goods. Compared to the average monthly salary of 6,050 yuan for recent university graduates in China last year, this is a relatively high amount. Wang said, "Goods are a medium that allows me to meet the characters I like in real life," adding, "I consume to make myself happy."

Professor Mei Wenhui of the Communication Department at Hunan University interpreted that unlike the past when consumption was focused on necessities, Generation Z's consumption trend emphasizes not only the value of products but also the happiness felt through consumption. However, she cautioned that if one becomes blindly obsessed with favorite content or characters, it could lead to excessive consumption, advising, "Market supervision should be strengthened as unfair marketing and illegal transactions may be hidden."