Overseas orders surge, Chinese New Year goods become a hit abroad

Author: Hugo Cross-Border

Image source | pexels

The Spring Festival in 2025 is the first Lunar New Year after the successful application for UNESCO heritage status. On December 4, 2024, the Spring Festival was included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The successful application for heritage status is a landmark event for the Chinese New Year to go global.

After the successful application for heritage status, overseas consumers have shown a stronger interest in traditional Chinese culture, further igniting the enthusiasm of overseas Chinese for purchasing New Year goods. A wave of "Spring Festival enthusiasm" is surging in overseas markets, with demand for various New Year products continuing to rise, and items related to the Spring Festival are experiencing a boom.

Spring Festival Decorations Sell Well Overseas

As the most important traditional festival in China, the Spring Festival has become a culturally recognized symbol worldwide after its successful application for heritage status. From festive decorations to food, traditional clothing, and gifts, the Spring Festival encompasses rich consumption scenarios and emotional value. Surveys show that after the successful application for heritage status, 83.0% of respondents indicated that they would pay more attention to traditional customs during the New Year. Cross-analysis shows that this proportion is highest among respondents born in the 1990s, at 86.0%.

Recently, products featuring traditional Spring Festival elements have sparked a sales boom overseas. According to authoritative data from Cainiao Global Supply Chain, the inventory of New Year gift boxes in U.S. overseas warehouses has surged, successfully surpassing Christmas decorations to take the top spot in inventory volume. The order volume has also seen explosive growth, increasing nearly 30 times compared to the same period last year, reflecting overseas consumers' strong interest and demand for Spring Festival culture.

The successful application for heritage status has also brought a new trend worldwide. Data shows that some Chinese New Year goods with Chinese innovations, such as wood carvings and teapots, have increased by nearly 150% year-on-year. Products in the trendy toy category, such as claw machines and capsule toys, have seen growth rates exceeding 100%. In particular, zodiac-themed "blind boxes" with a "New Year flavor" have seen sales increase by 200% year-on-year.

Many sellers specializing in Spring Festival products have stated that decorations for the Spring Festival are very popular on major cross-border e-commerce platforms every year. Especially in Southeast Asia, where there are many overseas Chinese, the demand for such products is even greater.

According to Sliverpush, 63% of Vietnamese consumers plan to purchase essential items for the New Year, such as couplets and New Year clothing, especially clothing featuring snake year patterns and traditional Chinese elements, which receive significant attention during the Spring Festival.

On the Amazon platform, sales of various holiday decorations and supplies are showing rapid growth. For example, the sales of snake year red envelopes have been very strong over the past month. Couplets and window decorations have become popular choices for home decoration, and chocolate coins have gained favor among consumers this year, with sales skyrocketing. On the Temu platform, decorations related to the Spring Festival are also very popular, indicating that overseas consumers place great importance on the Spring Festival Moreover, it has been reported that since the beginning of the year, orders for 70 specialized villages producing Chinese knots in Linyi, Shandong have surged, with designers integrating various trendy elements into traditional crafts to cater to overseas market demands. In Tuntou Village, known as "China's First Lantern Village" in Gaocheng District, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, every household is busy making lanterns to meet the festive market demand.

It is noteworthy that in addition to traditional Spring Festival decorations being popular overseas, various activities associated with the Spring Festival atmosphere, such as setting off fireworks and playing Mahjong, have also become new pleasures for overseas consumers.

Chinese fireworks, Mahjong machines, and other products become bestsellers

Setting off fireworks has been a tradition for Chinese people for thousands of years, and who would have thought that this tradition has now become a favorite among overseas consumers, with foreign buyers lining up to purchase them on the streets abroad.

Previously, on a short video platform, some Germans were seen queuing outside supermarkets at 4 a.m. to buy fireworks, sparking discussions. It was unexpected that fireworks, which are very common during domestic festivals, are so popular among foreigners overseas that they require queuing to buy.

It is understood that in Germany, New Year fireworks are only allowed to be sold from December 28 to December 31, with the dates for setting them off being December 31 and January 1 of the New Year. Different cities also have different firecracker prohibition zones, and violators of the firecracker ban can face fines of up to tens of thousands of euros.

Despite many bans and criticisms, it is still difficult to dampen the enthusiasm of local residents for setting off fireworks on New Year's Eve. According to foreign media reports, the German Fireworks Industry Association (VPI) expects that the sales of fireworks in stores this year will increase by 15% compared to last year.

In addition, another important family activity during the Spring Festival, playing Mahjong, has also become a popular activity among overseas consumers. Data shows that since the beginning of 2025, the sales of New Year goods on the Taobao Overseas platform have continued to rise. Among them, the performance of traditional Chinese clothing brands has been eye-catching, with overseas sales increasing by more than double year-on-year. Even more surprising is the explosive popularity of automatic Mahjong machines in overseas markets, with sales skyrocketing by an astonishing 600%.

Mahjong, as a unique emblem of Chinese traditional culture, carries rich historical and cultural connotations. With the advancement of globalization, more and more foreigners have the opportunity to be exposed to Chinese culture, and Mahjong is gradually entering their field of vision. On social platforms like Instagram and TikTok, players are sharing moments of playing games on automatic Mahjong machines with family and friends.

Screenshot from TikTok

The successful application for the Spring Festival to be included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list means that the festive rituals and cultural connotations embodied in the Spring Festival are gaining wider recognition, bringing many new trends. Chinese cross-border e-commerce sellers can seize opportunities during overseas festive promotions, as overseas consumers are increasingly valuing the Spring Festival. Domestic sellers might consider leveraging its unique cultural attributes to develop distinctive products to more accurately capture the market.

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