Chinese toys equipped with AI have drawn attention from overseas merchants, who see huge potential in their market potential due to competitive costs and quality.
Driven by the rise of artificial AI, the toy industry has embraced a new wave of intelligent transformation.
From smart robot dogs to desktop companion bots, AI toys are one of the most popular categories for procurement.
"This year is something developing very well with AI. We're very impressed, and we're very focused on this," said a merchant from Spain.
"After seeing how fast China's AI develops, overseas clients are quite shocked. Many of them have told me that they cannot wait until we've crafted the products to perfection. For example, one of my customers from Russia asked me to open the port for Russian language first," said Shen Runnan, general manager of Shantou Subotech Toy Co., Ltd.
Compared to the similar AI toys made overseas, which typically sell for over 400 U.S. dollars, China-made products sell for around 40 to 50 U.S. dollars. The lower costs are making them highly competitive in global market.
"Since China's AI technologies have been taking the lead, the costs on AI large models, computing power and hardware can be under good control. The AI toy is a greater transformation and upgrading for the entire toy industry," said Liu Zhenlie, chairman of the Shenzhen Toy Industry Association.
Demand for AI toys is expected to grow monumentally in the coming years. According to a forecast by IMARC Group, the global AI toy market size global is expected to rise from 18.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2024 to 60 billion U.S. dollars in 2033.
China's AI toys draw attention from overseas merchants
Authorities in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region have been implementing public wellbeing programs to ensure a good start to the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), as high-quality public service resources continue to reach grassroots communities.
The Xizang Hospital, being built under the auspices of the West China Second University Hospital of Sichuan University, which was included in the fourth batch of national regional medical center projects in October 2022, is under construction.
Once operational, it will save local residents' trips to other provinces for medical treatment, effectively addressing the shortage of high-quality medical resources in the region.
During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the regional government will make simultaneous efforts to increase the income of urban and rural residents, optimize basic public services, and broaden employment channels. It will also ensure that the number of families with no employed members is steadily reduced to zero, promote work-relief programs, and increase new urban employment opportunities.
Meanwhile, Xizang will step up the construction of county-level medical and health consortia, achieve full coverage of public childcare services at the prefecture level, and improve education, medical care, elderly care, and childcare services.
"We will continue to take improving people's livelihood and rallying people's support as our ultimate objectives, focusing on increasing employment and people's income, improving education quality, medical and health care, social security, elderly care, and childcare services, so that the achievements of building a new modern socialist Xizang can benefit more people in a fair manner," said Wang Jingcai, deputy director of the regional development and reform commission.
Authorities in Xizang roll out public wellbeing programs to ensure good start to 15th Five-Year Plan
