BEIJING – The globally sensational “designer” toy Labubu has topped China’s most internationally influential online pop-culture intellectual property (IP) in the past year, with blockbuster film Dead To Rights close behind, according to a report released on Nov 8.
The report, focused on the international communication of Chinese symbols, was unveiled by a Beijing-based think tank Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies at the World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province.
It offers a data-driven assessment of how Chinese cultural IPs and local cultural symbols spread overseas over the past year.
According to the ranking, Labubu, the collectible “designer” toy sold by Beijing-based toy-maker Pop Mart, led the top 10 Chinese online pop-culture IPs. A blockbuster film, Dead To Rights, came second, and Ne Zha 2 third.
Other entries in the top 10 include the breakout film Nobody, ranking seventh, and the Chinese game Where Winds Meet, ninth.
The film Dead To Rights is set against the backdrop of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-1945), telling the story of a group of civilians who took refuge in a photo studio amid wartime chaos and risked their lives to expose the atrocities committed by the invading Japanese army.
Ne Zha 2 reimagined a classic myth, telling the story of the Chinese mythological character Ne Zha and his family and friends as they overcome hardship and stand up to hostile powers.
Releasing the findings, head of the academy Li Yafang said these globally resonant Chinese IPs “no longer aim to preach, but use high-quality products and compelling stories” to make the world actively understand China.
The report tracked the performance of Chinese cultural symbols across more than 4,000 mainstream media outlets worldwide, multiple international social platforms and search engines.
It also tracked how they are referenced by leading artificial intelligence models such as DeepSeek and ChatGPT, based on data from November 2024 to September 2025, the think tank said. CHINA DAILY/ASIANEWSNETWORK