Photo:VCG

Days before the 2022 Spring Festival holidays, the tiger has become a super-hot element that small Chinese vendors and large overseas brands are rushing to use in a wide variety of products, creating an atmosphere for what people call a "tiger economy" as the country celebrates the new year. 

As February, or the Chinese Year of the Tiger, approaches, the animal's image is becoming ubiquitous in shops, train stations, and even on street advertisements in China. Many companies have designed "cute" cartoon tiger pictures and printed them on products ranging from pillows and toys to clothes, while overseas fashion giants are also making use of the image to cater to Chinese customers.

Chinese brands and companies, who are always known for being sensitive about market trends, can't wait to design campaigns with a tiger theme to catch attention, not to mention the numerous tiger element products they rolled out to lure the market. 

Domestic bottled water brand Nongfu Spring, for example, rolled out a tiger drawing competition recently, which aroused enormous interest among netizens and drawing lovers. The campaign lasted about a week, during which the company blew horns for the limited edition products it designed for the Year of the Tiger.

Many Chinese liquor companies also launched special zodiac wines, which received a warm welcome from the markets. 

For instance, the five Year of the Tiger liquor recently launched by Kweichou Moutai not only saw a surge in prices, but even sold out in many regions. One of the five wines has seen a price surge from 2,499 yuan ($392.8) to nearly 6,000 yuan, based on product information shown on taobao.com as of press time. 

Recent data also showed that the tiger has been a driving factor behind many brands' sales surge, as consumers showed an appetite for traditional cultural images. Data revealed by domestic e-commerce website vip.com noted that the sales of Chinese sportswear brand Anta saw a 50 percent increase during the website's recent online festival. Anta launched a special clothing collection for the tiger year, which features tiger images on the clothes.

A search for "tiger" on China's leading e-commerce website taobao.com generates more than 4,000 products with tiger elements, ranging from key chains to pillows, the Global Times found on Saturday. 

A staffer shows gold jewelry in the form of a tiger in Huairen, Southwest China's Guizhou Province on January 26, 2022. As the Spring Festival of the Year of the Tiger is approaching, gold jewelry for the year is selling well. Photo: cnsphoto

Lured by the economic value of the tiger economy, many overseas brands also launched products with tiger elements. Gucci launched a special collection that featured real tigers in its advertising campaign to celebrate the Year of the Tiger, Japanese pearl maker Mikimoto launched a special tiger brooch to usher in the new year, while Swiss watch brand Chopard also launched a tiger element watch.

Wei Xin, head of a toy factory located in Yiwu, the Chinese city often known as the world hub for small commodities, said that his company's revenues from selling Chinese zodiac toys for Year of the Tiger had risen by about 20 percent compared with previous zodiac year. 

"In the Year of the Ox, our sales of zodiac toys were hit by the coronavirus, while sales were almost zero in the Year of the Mouse. This year, business has recovered along with coronavirus recovery," Wei told the Global Times on Saturday. 

But not all businesspeople who try to earn profits on the zodiac theme can succeed, as China's buying demand is still restrained by the coronavirus spread.

An employee from the Dongyang Tongle Toys Co told the Global Times that his company used to sell about 80,000 zodiac toys each year, but for the Year of the Tiger, only 50,000 of such toys are sold.

He said his company's zodiac products are mostly sold to banks, insurance companies or firms, but many of them are compelled to cancel large-scale gatherings, like annual conferences, under the guidance of local governments. This also has suppressed the market for zodiac decorative products, which are often used on those occasions.