December 16, 2025
Beijing – Eager to tap into the huge potential customer base, industry players are accelerating their foray into the artificial intelligence-driven toy market, hoping that supportive policies will unlock new growth by injecting new momentum into the sector.
Experts and business leaders noted that AI toys created to provide emotional support and companionship are well-positioned to spark the next wave of consumer trends by leveraging advanced technology to foster emotional connections with consumers.
“Young consumers are increasingly paying for emotional value, and AI companionship is emerging as a key early use case,” said Sun Zhaozhi, founder and CEO of Shanghai-based AI-powered toy startup Robopoet.
“This is causing more companies, including major players, to enter this space,” Sun said.
China's AI toy market will be valued at 24.6 billion yuan ($3.49 billion) in 2024, and is expected to reach 29 billion yuan this year, according to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
This growth momentum is supported by the action plan announced last month by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the People's Bank of China, and the State Administration for Market Regulation, which listed collectible toys as a priority support consumption category for the first time, making it one of 10 consumer segments targeted to exceed the 100 billion yuan mark by 2027.
“The close integration of AI and traditional toy manufacturing has restructured product forms and value chains, making AI toys a new engine for high-quality industrial development,” said He Yaqiong, director of the Consumer Products Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Robopoet's flagship AI plush toy “Fuzozo”, which talks to users and makes eye contact, is priced at 399 yuan and sold more than 1,000 pieces in the first 10 minutes of the “618” shopping festival pre-sale, ranking No. 1 in AI toy sales on both Jingdong and Tmall at this year's Double 11 Shopping Festival, Son said.
The senior executive added that the company has sold about 100,000 units of the product so far this year, and aims to sell 1 million units next year, with total sales of 400 million to 500 million yuan.
As consumer demands diversify, more companies are shifting their focus to AI-powered pet companions.
“Unlike common robots designed to serve humans, our product simulates a living pet that requires care. The process of care gives users a sense of healing and helps them cope with anxiety and loneliness,” said He Jiabin, co-founder and CEO of AI robot pet maker Ropet.
He added that AI-powered robot pets are better suited to the lifestyles of today's youth, as there are no challenges such as allergies, time constraints or training processes.
Supported by an emotional large-scale language model and behavioral learning, Ropet can continuously adapt to the user's habits and gradually develop unique characteristics, allowing it to interact more like a personalized pet, the executive said.
After making its domestic debut on JD in late October, this AI pet product quickly entered the top three in the platform's robot category ranking by sales during the Double 11 Shopping Festival.
“Our business logic is simple: first create attractive hardware products, then take advantage of high usage rates to accumulate behavioral data, and finally leverage this data to deliver true intelligence,” he said.
As domestic momentum grows, China's AI toys are gaining strong traction overseas as well.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China's domestic toy retail market in 2024 will increase by 25.5% from 2020 to 97.85 billion yuan, and total toy exports will increase by 19.1% from 2020 to $39.87 billion.
“Consumers in the US and Europe are highly accepting of AI robots with visual understanding and personalized interactions. Many consumers describe our products as 'little desktop creatures,' 'AI pets,' or 'emotional charging stations,'” said Yi Qi, marketing manager at Shenzhen-based AI hardware company TangibleFuture.
The company's LOOI Robot costs about $150 and differs from typical companion robots in its phone dock form factor. When you place your smartphone on it, the device activates intelligent interaction and obstacle detection features.
Since mass production began in November 2024, more than 10,000 units have been shipped, with 90% sold overseas. The product has also received support on social media from Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
He Yaqiong from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said, “China, which boasts the world's most complete toy industry chain, strong manufacturing capacity and highly skilled workforce, is now able to provide more high-quality and affordable toys to consumers around the world.”
