Pop Mart City Park Reopens After Major Upgrade; VP Hu Jian Says Profitability Not the Top Priority Right Now

City Park Receives Major Upgrade

Following the official announcement of the LABUBU movie, Pop Mart has made another move on the offline experience front. The company recently announced that the new zones of its City Park, located inside Beijing's Chaoyang Park, officially opened to visitors on April 30. Spanning approximately 40,000 square meters, this first-of-its-kind immersive trendy toy IP theme park in China has finally unveiled its upgraded form after more than a year of renovations since its September 2023 opening.

The upgrade centers on two hit IPs — THE MONSTERS (LABUBU) and DIMOO — introducing three entirely new zones and five large-scale rides. For the first time, the park features major attractions such as a drop tower and a pirate ship, marking a critical leap from a 'light experience' to a 'heavy experience' model.

Profitable in Year One, but 'Making Money Isn't the Top Priority'

From an operational standpoint, Pop Mart City Park has delivered impressive results. The park turned a profit in its very first year of operation, and Pop Mart's management disclosed at last year's interim results briefing that 'foot traffic and revenue in the first half of 2025 have already surpassed the full-year figures from last year.'

Yet, in the face of these strong results, Hu Jian — Vice President of Pop Mart International Group and General Manager of City Park — offered a notably measured take: 'Profitability and revenue are certainly important in the long run, but they are not the most important things at this stage.'

Hu emphasized that, unlike the operating philosophy of traditional theme parks, Pop Mart City Park treats the park as a 'creative work' rather than a purely profit-driven project. This philosophy means the team is more focused on experience quality, the narrative integrity of its IPs, and emotional connections with visitors than on short-term financial returns.

Breaking the Traditional Theme Park Visitor Profile

Notably, Pop Mart City Park has carved out an unconventional visitor demographic. Data shows that non-family visitors account for as much as 59% of the park's guests, while non-local visitors make up 58%.

These figures shatter the long-standing domestic theme park paradigm of 'family-driven, local-audience-dominated' attendance. Traditional theme parks tend to rely heavily on families with children and visitors from surrounding cities, but Pop Mart has leveraged the powerful appeal of its trendy toy IPs to successfully attract large numbers of young adult consumers and out-of-town tourists, forming a differentiated visitor base driven by IP fandom.

This reflects the enormous potential of trendy toy IPs to extend from retail consumer products into immersive experiential venues. When an IP resonates deeply enough, a theme park is no longer just 'a place to take the kids' — it becomes a cultural destination that young people travel specifically to visit.

How Far Can the 'Creative Work' Mindset Go?

The philosophy Hu Jian proposes — 'refining the park as a creative work' — is not without precedent in the business world. In its early days, Disneyland similarly adhered to an 'experience-first' philosophy, placing storytelling and immersion above financial targets, ultimately building the most commercially valuable theme park empire in the world.

However, the challenges are equally significant. At 40,000 square meters, the park qualifies as small-scale by theme park standards. How to continuously generate fresh experiences within a limited space and how to balance 'creative refinement' with commercial sustainability will be the core challenges Pop Mart City Park faces over the long term.

From a broader perspective, Pop Mart is building a complete IP ecosystem chain spanning blind box retail, film and television content, and offline immersive experiences. As a critical link in that chain, City Park carries a mission that goes beyond ticket revenue — it serves as a three-dimensional amplifier of IP value. Under this logic, Hu Jian's statement that 'profitability is not the most important thing at this stage' is easy to understand — the core task right now is to perfect the IP experience to its fullest, laying a solid foundation for larger-scale commercial monetization in the future.

Whether Pop Mart can truly create a Chinese paradigm for 'IP-driven' theme parks remains to be seen. This small park inside Chaoyang Park may already be writing the answer.