China Ready for the LGBT?

After twenty years, China is finally sparking its own pink dollar moment. It claimed the country’s estimated 70 million LGBT people represent a market worth $300B per year. In comparison, according to Witeck Communications, a company specializing in analyzing the LGBT market, the US equivalent is worth $790B a year.

Homosexuality was illegal in China until 1997 but only declassified as a mental health disorder in 2001. Now, due to increasingly liberal attitudes among young urban Chinese, most big firms in the country market themselves as LGBT-friendly. On the other end of the business scale, an increasing number of startups are tailoring their products and services for the LGBT people to capitalize on this change.

According to the first LGBT population living consumption survey report, provided by the nonprofit business platform WorkForLGBT, there are more than 50% of LGBT people living in capital cities in China with an average monthly income of 1,759 USD. According to the results, the LGBT population cannot say they are rich, but their income is slightly better than the average Chinese salary. They are less interested in marriage and childbearing.  Compare to heterosexual groups, the LGBT group has a strong consumption tendency. Such as buying high-quality smart phones, cosmetics, and skin care products.

People are aware of the huge business opportunities brought by the Chinese LGBT community. The Chinese companies have already begun taking a variety of ways to please the Chinese LGBT people, trying to get a slice of that growing pie. On June 26, 2015, the US Supreme Court made a historic ruling that homosexual marriage was legalized in all states of the United States. Chinese enterprises followed the trend immediately and launched a variety of rally activities: Lynx turned its logo into a seven-colored cat; Haier released rainbow refrigerator posters; Baidu, Youku, and other Internet companies also expressed their attitude to support same-sex marriage.

It seems the Chinese market isn’t as secluded as we use to think. Blued raising its capital by doing business in the LGBT community sends out a message: more and more diverse businesses are emerging in the Chinese economy.