Pet economy thrives on young people

More than 110 million cats and dogs are living in Chinese cities, and the number of pet owners has reached 68.44 million in 2021, according to the data of China Pet Industry.

Pets are becoming an indispensable part in families, regarded as friends by young people in particular. The increasingly upward consumption on pets has brought opportunities for businesses and e-commerce platforms.

During the holiday of dragon-boat festival, the typical Zongzi varieties were created for pets. “Many pet owners bought featured Zongzi for their pets without much attention to the price,” said Qiu Chengshu, founder of a pet bakery.

What’s more, quite a few owners got their pets not only special Zongzi, but also birth-day cakes, moon cakes and more.

“I wanted to keep a cat for long, so I bought a blue cat named Zaozao when I could afford the feeding cost and shoulder the responsibility,” said Miss Wang, a Gen Z girl, who also got a bed, snacks and toys for her cat.

“I almost became a mother after having a dog,” commented another young girl online, adding the total cost to keep her dog reached 20,000 yuan per year.

  

With the booming of pet economy, a series of human services are provided for pets, involving pet schools, pet hospitals, pet insurance and more.

Now it’s nothing strange to sent pets to school. Obviously, pet economy has brought opportunities, but the thriving pet services need to be better supervised.

Trans-editing by Wang Qing