Softer power: Asia’s cultural export boom is just beginning

Amidst Hong Kong’s bustling streets, you’ll invariably spot one of the year’s viral trends: Labubu dolls. Designed by local illustrator Kasing Lung and produced by China’s Pop Mart, sales of these collectible figures have surpassed 10 million every day. Their popularity soared after Lisa, a Thai-born member of K-pop group Blackpink, showcased her collection on Instagram; prompting her fan base, distributed throughout Asia, Europe and the Americas, to queue overnight for one of their own.

The geographic spread of the Labubu phenomenon is emblematic of a broader trend: Asian cultural exports are undergoing a major expansion. Overseas sales of Korean music, for example, have quadrupled over the past decade and are expected to surpass $1.5 billion this year, equivalent to selling 50,000 Hyundai Tucson SUVs. India, home to one of the world’s largest film industries, is seeing titles reach audiences beyond the traditional diaspora; Aamir Khan vehicle Dangal earned nearly two-thirds of its worldwide earnings in mainland China, making it one of the country’s highest grossing foreign movies.

As technology enables local culture to go global, finding new niches in far-flung locales, a rebalancing of flows will ensue. This will be net positive for trade, especially in services – and provide emerging economies in Asia an additional growth driver and hedge against volatile trade in manufactured goods. It is therefore a burgeoning economic and business opportunity.

The global movies and entertainment industry is on track to balloon from $100 billion to $170 billion by 2030. Much of that growth is being scripted in Mandarin, Korean, Hindi and Arabic.

This shift is evident in the charts and commissioning decisions of streamers. On Netflix, non-English series make up ten of the top 25 most viewed shows globally. Breakout franchises like K-Pop Demon Hunters stand out as the most-streamed film in Netflix history. The platform is facilitating new exchanges between emerging markets, with half of shows watched in the Middle East and North Africa being non-English. Homegrown Arabic language shows have also doubled.

Music has also become more global and polyglot. In 2017, only English- and Spanish-language tracks were able to generate $100 million in respective Spotify royalties. By 2024, music in eight languages surpassed that threshold. Over half of artists earning over $10,000 annually on the platform now come from countries where English is not the first language.

As categories blur, hybrid formats are flourishing. Pop Mart, for example, is turning toys into characters through animating short videos, tapping into China’s duanju trend: two-minute serialised micro-dramas designed for mobile screens. Revenues from duanju have surged from $500 million in 2021 to $7 billion in 2024, overtaking the domestic box office.

More profitable still is video gaming, the most lucrative entertainment sector, with cultural touchpoints broadening around Chinese influences. Black Myth: Wukong, based on the classic Journey to the West, has generated over $1 billion overseas, exemplifying Chinese brands’ westward expansion. Chasing the cross-border appeal of its titles, Chinese tech giant Tencent has expanded into e-sports worldwide and now operates events in over 90 countries and regions.

This cultural power translates into economic returns outside of Asia. The remote fishing village of Iseltwald in Switzerland launched a double decker bus service to accommodate the boom in Asian tourists flocking to glimpse landscapes featured in popular K-drama Crash Landing on You.

As demand shift and grows, the entertainment industry is seeking to find original content that travels, combined with global distribution, and scale: creating more multilingual, multicultural and multipolar content. Investment will follow Asian movies, music, gaming, art and short-form media. Passionate, youthful, globally distributed fanbases ensure mainstream success and are able command a premium value. The heightened engagement among generation alpha – those born between the early 2010s and the mid-2020s – is remarkable. Not only is reaching these consumers as they grow highly prized, they are already generating significant revenue and value today.

While cultural change creates commercial opportunities, companies and investors must navigate a richer mosaic of cultural touchpoints. This will not always be straightforward. Not every Asian cultural product is made for export. China’s guochao movement, for example, is highly patriotic and for the most part specific to those with Chinese heritage, favouring local brands that revive traditional Chinese elements in apparel and other forms of design.

This shift in the creative centre of gravity towards Asia adds another dimension to how globalisation is being reshaped. It will accelerate interconnectivity of taste, consumption and spending within and without Asia.

For investors, the trend offers a lens into the behaviour and preferences of the next generation of global consumers, and the brands that will earn their loyalty. Those brands that tune in to these new frequencies will earn the affection of a growing generation of fans, at home and abroad.