China's major consumption trends in 2023

Emphasis on outdoor activities

Lately, Cityride, a style of urban cycling, has become quite the hit among young people, evolving into a new lifestyle that emphasizes a low-carbon footprint, wellness and social connections.

The outdoor lifestyle trends report for 2023, released by the social media platform Xiaohongshu, shows an almost 400 percent surge in cycling-related posts between January and October 2023. These posts garnered an overall readership that surpassed 1.3 billion.

The report also shows that outdoor activities have become integrated into daily life and popular among the public. From January to October, daily active outdoor users surged by over 100 percent. Activities such as hiking, cycling, camping, fishing, diving, surfing and skiing have become part of the new lifestyle.

The China Outdoor Sports Industry Development Report (2022-2023), released in October, shows an increase in outdoor activities such as winter sports, running, cycling, off-road adventures and camping from 2022 to 2023.

In the first half of 2023, orders related to outdoor sports increased by 79 percent compared to the same period in 2022 and spiked by 221 percent compared to 2019.

The post-90s generation now constitutes the largest consumer segment in outdoor sports, accounting for 36.1 percent. While, women have broken the stereotype of outdoor activities being male-dominated, comprising 59.9 percent of participants, the Economic Information Daily reported.