China’s “quiet recalibration” and move toward “surgical segmentation”
Yuni He, managing partner and executive producer at P.I.G., highlights five key cultural trends brands in China should look out for in 2026 for LBBonline – Little Black Book.
China in 2026 is less about scale — and far more about precision as the country enters a quieter, more intentional phase of consumer behavior.
What resonates most is the move toward surgical segmentation. We’re seeing consumers make fewer, more deliberate choices — where fashion, wellness, leisure, and even coffee culture operate as signals of identity and values, not volume consumption.
For brands, this raises the bar:
• Local nuance is no longer optional.
• Cultural fluency must exist before the brief, not after.
• Production partners need to think like strategic collaborators, not just executors.
The opportunity in 2026 isn’t to be everywhere — it’s to be exactly right where you show up.
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