Why Pet Brands need to target China in Priority?

China is now the second-largest pet market on earth, and it is still growing while most other markets have flattened. If you sell pet food, treats, supplements, or accessories, this is the one country where a smaller brand can still build a real business in a few years. Below is what the numbers look like in 2025/2026, why cats are now the story, and how I would enter if I were you.

China’s pet market in 2025/2026: the fresh numbers

• The urban dog and cat consumption market passed 300.2 billion yuan (about 41 billion USD) in 2024, up 7.5 percent year on year, per the 2025 China Pet Industry White Paper.
• Total urban pet population reached 124.11 million dogs and cats.
• Cats overtook dogs. Pet cats hit 71.53 million (up 2.5 percent) versus 52.58 million dogs (up 1.6 percent).
• The cat market grew 10.7 percent to 144.5 billion yuan. The dog market grew 4.6 percent to 155.7 billion yuan. Cats are catching up fast.
• Yearly spend per pet: about 2,961 yuan per dog and 2,020 yuan per cat.
• Online channels now drive close to 60 percent of pet product sales, growing around 10 percent a year.
• Owners buy fresh: roughly 81 percent of dog and cat owners restock main food every one to three months instead of bulk-buying. They want it fresh.
• Domestic brands are rising: about 33 percent of dog owners and 35 percent of cat owners now buy Chinese brands only. This is your real competition, not the old global names.

Honest read from me: the easy growth years are over, but the value is still climbing. Chinese owners now spend more per pet, not just buy more pets. That rewards brands with a clear story, a clean ingredient list, and proof. It punishes brands that just show up and hope.

Crazy data, no?

In the past, having a pet in China was seen as an expensive gift only the rich could afford. Today, Chinese owners keep raising what they spend, and that number keeps climbing. Dogs and cats are the most common pets, and the country now sits behind only the United States in total pet spending. The shift in one generation has been huge.

The pet industry is booming in China

The growth is real, but the buyer has changed. The market is no longer about selling more bags of food to more new owners. It is about selling better food to owners who treat the pet like family. That is why premium and functional products keep gaining share while plain commodity food gets squeezed by cheaper local brands.

Many Chinese pet owners are young. People aged 20 to 35 make up the large majority of owners. These are not retirees with free time. They are working singles and young couples in big cities who delay kids and pour money into a cat or a small dog instead. They research online, they read reviews, and they trust other owners more than ads.

Tang Yahan, an Exotic Shorthair cat owner, put it well: “A lot of the middle class have pets, but there are many ordinary people who own cats and dogs too, and also feed strays in their neighborhoods. It is your love for those little ones that makes you a pet owner.”

Chinese owners have a real passion for pets

The big majority of Chinese pet owners are happy to spend on food, training, vaccinations, grooming and the vet. The pet food market changed a lot over the past decade. Owners used to feed dogs human leftovers. Now they buy proper pet food and read the label. One of the better-known premium brands in China is Royal Canin, priced around 70 yuan per kilogram, but plenty of newer brands sit above it.

“Natural” and functional pet food keeps taking share, and fresh or freeze-dried formats are the fastest-growing format on the shelves. Owners also pay for services. Many take their dog to a grooming salon, pay for professional washing, and a small but real group even book pet photo shoots. Pets are family now, and families spend.

Jiang Yuxuan, a pet beauty director at one of Shanghai’s busiest pet salons, said: “Spa services, from nail trims to styling, are very popular. We style 40 pets a day on average, and during holidays that can hit 60 or 70. We are always busy.” That is one salon, in one city. Multiply it.

What you actually need to sell pet products in China

Chinese shoppers live online. Close to 60 percent of pet products now sell through e-commerce, and the buying flow, from delivery to returns, is faster than anything in the West. Owners have a real appetite for foreign products, and online platforms are where they look first. The market is led by Alibaba with Taobao and Tmall, by JD, by Pinduoduo for value buyers, and by Douyin for discovery and impulse.

If you sell physical product, the platform question comes before the marketing question. You can run cross-border (lower setup, slower trust) or go through a local distributor and a Tmall flagship (more work, more credibility). Picking wrong here costs you a year. This is exactly where we help foreign brands. See our e-commerce agency in China page for how the platform setup works.

The honest path for most smaller brands is a reliable local partner who already holds the import licenses, warehousing and channel relationships. Trying to do customs, registration and logistics alone, from abroad, with a small team, is how budgets burn. We match brands with vetted partners through our service to find a reliable Chinese distributor.

Douyin is the hottest channel for pet e-commerce in China

1. Douyin as a sales engine: Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, has become a top channel for pet food and accessory brands. The huge user base and high watch time make it strong for both awareness and direct sales.
2. Pet content sells: Douyin is full of pet videos. That content shapes what owners want and what they buy, often within minutes of watching.
3. Live streaming: Brands use live streams to show products, run feeding demos, answer questions and push limited offers in real time.
4. Pet KOLs: Popular pets and their owners promote products with honest, relatable content that moves their followers.
5. Built-in checkout: Douyin links content to a smooth in-app purchase, so a viewer can buy your treats while still watching the clip.

Social media builds your brand awareness

The more your target owners see your product, the more they trust it and buy it. You have to build product exposure across the main Chinese apps. WeChat is still the base. It started as a messaging app and is now payments, mini-programs, content and service all in one, with well over a billion users. WeChat Channels (short video) is its answer to Douyin, and it pulls real traffic now.

Weibo is still useful for reach and for working with KOLs and bloggers, who can carry your launch through content, campaigns and live streams. Their followers treat their picks as honest advice, so a good partner there builds real credit for a new brand.

Xiaohongshu (RED) is the home of premium pet buyers

1. Community recommendations: Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book) runs on real users sharing real experiences, which makes it a trusted place for pet food and accessory reviews.
2. User content on pet care: The app is full of advice on feeding, health and gear, and that content shapes what owners buy.
3. Premium and niche fit: RED skews toward higher-spend, detail-driven owners. If your product is premium or specialty, this is your audience.
4. Influencer collaborations: Pet KOLs on RED promote products with honest, relatable posts that their followers act on.
5. Direct sales: With e-commerce built in, owners can buy from the app right after reading the reviews that convinced them.

For premium pet brands, I would put RED at the center of the plan. It is where high-spend cat owners live, and cats are the fastest-growing part of the market. Our team can set up and run your official account and seeding strategy. See our Xiaohongshu agency page for how we do it.

A strong branding strategy is key for your brand

With 124 million urban dogs and cats and a market past 300 billion yuan, China is the world’s second-largest pet market by spend. Foreign brands still carry a quality halo, but that halo is thinner than five years ago because local brands have improved fast. Owners now decide on product quality first, then on what other owners say, then on price. Win those three and you win the sale.

Chinese owners love to spoil their pet

Marketing pet food in China from scratch takes a few moves done in the right order. Here are five that work:

1. Build a Chinese-language site: Make a site built for Baidu, not a translated copy of your English one. Cover ingredients, health benefits and real testimonials. It must be fast on mobile, because almost everyone browses on a phone.
2. Use the right social apps: Put your effort on RED and Douyin for pet content, feeding tips, testimonials and clean product visuals. Work with pet KOLs to build trust quickly.
3. Run KOL and KOC campaigns: Partner with pet KOLs for feeding trials, unboxings and short nutrition explainers. Smaller KOCs (everyday owners) often convert better and cost less.
4. Manage reputation and PR: Build and protect your image. Answer reviews, join owner communities, show up at pet expos. One bad unanswered review thread can stall a launch.
5. Sell on the main platforms: Set up where buyers already are: Tmall, JD and Douyin shop. Use intro offers and live streaming to convert first-time buyers into repeat ones.

Combine these and you can introduce a pet brand into a crowded market without burning your whole budget in month one. Pace it.

Baidu SEO: the quiet channel most pet brands skip

Owners research before they buy, and a lot of that research starts on Baidu and inside platform search. If your brand name returns nothing, or returns nothing in Chinese, you look new and risky. A simple Baidu SEO base, a clean Chinese site, a few solid articles, and good brand-name results, makes every other channel work better, because the curious buyer who searches you finds proof instead of a blank page.

Your website carries your brand image. Chinese buyers look up news and reviews online to confirm a product is good before they trust it. The site should be well-built and in Chinese, since it is the bridge between your brand and your buyers. Pair it with Baidu SEO to build awareness and credibility over time.

The pet market has big room to grow in China, and the value per owner keeps rising. If you want a plan that fits a smaller brand and a tighter budget, look at our services or just contact us and tell us what you sell.

We are a China marketing team with both Western and Chinese specialists. We work alongside your brand until it gets real traction in the market.

For verified figures, see the 2025 China Pet Industry White Paper coverage in China Daily and the pet industry data hub on Statista.

Frequently asked questions

How big is China’s pet market in 2025?

China’s urban dog and cat consumption market passed 300 billion yuan (about 41 billion USD) in 2024 and kept growing into 2025, making China the world’s second-largest pet market by spend. Growth now comes mostly from higher spend per pet, not from new owners.

Are there more cats or dogs in China?

Cats now outnumber dogs in urban China. There are about 71.5 million pet cats versus 52.6 million pet dogs, and the cat market is growing faster (around 10.7 percent a year) than the dog market. For premium and specialty brands, cats are the segment to target first.

Where do Chinese owners buy pet food?

Around 60 percent of pet products in China sell online. The main channels are Tmall, JD, Pinduoduo and Douyin shop, with discovery happening on Xiaohongshu and Douyin. Most owners now buy fresh, restocking main food every one to three months instead of bulk-buying.

Do foreign pet brands still sell well in China?

Yes, but the gap has narrowed. Foreign brands still carry a quality reputation, yet about a third of owners now buy Chinese brands only, since local quality has improved fast. To win, a foreign brand needs a clear story, proven ingredients, strong reviews and a price that matches its claims.

How does a smaller pet brand enter China without a huge budget?

Start narrow. Pick one platform (often a Tmall or Douyin shop through a local distributor), seed reviews on Xiaohongshu, build a basic Chinese site with Baidu SEO, and work with smaller KOCs instead of expensive top KOLs. A reliable distributor who already holds import and logistics handles the hard part so you can focus on the brand.

Pet in China: read also

• In China the pet economy brings a lot of business opportunities for international brands
• Pet food and accessories distributors in China
• A guide to sell pet products in China
• More on selling in China on our blog

Do you need partners in China?

We can help. Tell us what you sell and where you are stuck.

Jon Wang is a pragmatic, China-focused consultant with hands-on experience in Chinese e-commerce, distribution and digital marketing, always focused on practical solutions for smaller brands and tighter budgets. Connect with Jon on LinkedIn.