China’s Pop Mart eyes expansion at home and abroad for its Pop Land theme park

Chinese toymaker Pop Mart said it plans to develop more of its Pop Land theme parks on the mainland and overseas, and is in talks with several cities to expand beyond its sole existing venue in Beijing. Jeffrey Hu, head of Pop Land and vice-president of Pop Mart, said on Friday that the company had established solid park operations capabilities, and planned to replicate this model whenever suitable opportunities emerged. “We also plan to develop an integrated resort blending theme park facilities, commercial spaces and hotels when the time is right,” Hu said. Jeff Zhang, an equity analyst at Morningstar, said opening resorts and theme parks overseas was an optimal move to diversify revenue away from toy merchandising. “We think the upgraded theme park will boost ticket income and cross-selling of toy products for Pop Mart, but increased investments could mildly weigh on the company’s near-term profitability,” Zhang said. “For overseas expansion, we think the next Pop Land will likely be launched in Thailand, featuring Labubu, Crybaby and other [intellectual properties] with strong local popularity.” Pop Land, located in Beijing’s Sun Park in downtown Chaoyang district, has attracted an increasing number of visitors since opening nearly three years ago. The theme park turned profitable in its first year of operation. The park will launch its upgraded Labubu Forest Zone, or phase 1.5 of Pop Land, on Thursday, featuring more attractions and shows, following a one-year renovation. Pop Mart said it expected the addition to help boost its overall revenue. Last year, despite only one-third of the park being open to the public, visitor traffic rose by over 70 per cent from a year earlier. Non-family visitors and out-of-town travellers accounted for more than half of total attendance, and the site had become a popular spot for tourists in Beijing, including some overseas fans, according to the company. “Pop toys are static by nature, while the park enables those IPs to come alive,” Hu said. “Pop Land still requires further optimisation in many areas, and we will expand it and make it more sophisticated in phase two.” He added that Pop Land had no intention of rivalling major theme parks like Disneyland and Universal Studios – nor was it in a position to do so – adding that its key differentiation lay primarily in its intellectual property. Shares of Hong Kong-listed Pop Mart edged up 0.6 per cent to close at HK$156.50 on Friday. The stock has lost more than half of its value since hitting a record high in August. Even after posting strong 2025 full-year earnings, its share price plunged 23 per cent on March 25. Chinese billionaire investor Duan Yongping recently said he viewed Pop Mart as a promising long-term investment.