Main image: Photography by Min An. Courtesy of Pexels
Happiness economy
Experiences that offer emotional uplift are prioritized by a generation seeking comfort and support.
Young consumers in China are turning to products and experiences for how they make them feel, rather than simply what they do. As economic uncertainty, employment pressure, and demanding urban lifestyles weigh on confidence, “emotional value” has become a mainstream way of describing purchases that offer comfort, companionship, surprise, or a temporary escape.
The opportunity is already substantial. China’s emotion-driven economy grew from RMB1.63 trillion (approximately $201.4 billion USD) in 2022 to RMB2.31 trillion ($342 billion) in 2024 and is projected to exceed RMB4.5 trillion ($666 billion) by 2029. More than 90% of young consumers recognize the value of emotional consumption, while nearly 60% are willing to spend on it, according to recent data from China National Radio. Zhang Yi, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, describes the shift from “functional utility to subjective experience” as a vital transformation in China’s consumer landscape, arguing that the happiness economy is becoming a structural source of domestic growth rather than a short-lived fad.
This is visible in the rise of bookable companionship. Young people can now pay someone to accompany them while hiking, traveling, or even eating hotpot. Reuters estimates China’s companionship economy was worth around RMB50 billion (approximately $7.4 billion) in 2026. In a June interview with Reuters, psychotherapist Sami Wong explains that ordinary socializing demands emotional effort with no guaranteed outcome. With a paid companion, “you always get a ‘yes.’” The service offers customers both practical assistance and a predictable form of affirmation. This chimes with data from The Future 100: 2026 revealing 69% of people in China agree that community is more important than any one individual; and 88% value experiences that offers a sense of connection to themselves or to others.
Brands are responding by turning emotional connection into something consumers can enter and participate in. In April, Chinese beauty brand Florasis collaborated with immersive entertainment company Bian Fragments on Xizi: Flower Festival, a live RPG theater experience in Hangzhou. Visitors enter a fantasy version of the brand’s Eastern-aesthetics universe, interact with 16 performers, and take part in traditional cultural activities, transforming beauty products and seasonal storytelling into a shared emotional journey.
Luxury brands are following a similar path. During Chinese New Year 2026, brands including Miu Miu, Prada, Qeelin and Valentino moved beyond product-led campaigns toward cultural activations designed around participation, reunion and personal interaction.
Smaller creative rituals are growing too. Meituan searches for Perler-bead workshops increased more than tenfold year-over-year in early 2026, while orders doubled. Plush toys, aromatherapy, concerts, comedy, craft classes and IP collectibles are all being used as accessible forms of self-soothing, expression and belonging.
VML Intelligence identified this opportunity in “Emotioneering” in The Future 100: 2024, arguing that brands could begin measuring their impact through tears of joy, goosebumps, or moments of awe, rather than relying only on conventional engagement metrics.
China’s happiness economy gives that idea commercial form. Emotional value can no longer be treated as decorative storytelling added after the product is finished. The brands most likely to benefit will design the feeling itself, whether reassurance, companionship, fantasy or delight, as a central part of what consumers are paying for.
