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Recently, a national policy titled Implementation Plan for Enhancing the Adaptability of Consumer Goods Supply and Demand to Further Promote Consumption—jointly issued by six central ministries and commissions—was officially released. One of the most notable changes is that "pet food and supplies" have been explicitly listed as one of the "ten trillion-yuan consumption hotspots" prioritized by the state. This is not just a title; it’s a strong strategic signal: the once-niche "pet economy" has been formally integrated into the national strategy to boost domestic demand and promote consumption, marking the start of an industrial upgrade from "unregulated growth" to "refined cultivation."
01 Strategic Leap: From "Market-Driven" to "Nationally Guided"
Over the past decade, China’s pet economy has experienced explosive market-driven growth, fueled by emotional needs, demographic changes, and other factors. However, the release of this policy signifies a fundamental shift in the track’s driving force.
National Recognition of Growth Targets: The "trillion-yuan" positioning paints a clear picture of the industry’s growth potential. This means the pet industry—previously navigating the market independently—will now receive policy-guided support in industrial chain matching, innovation subsidies, and market expansion, entering a "fast lane" of development.
Precise Alignment with Consumption Connotations: The policy emphasizes "expanding the supply of diversified interest-based consumption," which aligns closely with the unique "emotional and anthropomorphic" characteristics of pet consumption. Enterprises are encouraged to develop products and services covering the entire pet life cycle—from food and training for puppies/kittens, to supplies and socialization for adult pets, and medical care and health products for senior pets. This not only enriches product offerings but also affirms the core driver of the pet economy: the emotional value of pets as family members is spurring a new, highly segmented, high-value-added consumer market.
02 Supply-Side Revolution: From "Scale Expansion" to "Value Creation"
The core keyword of the policy is "supply-demand adaptability," directly addressing the current pain points of the pet industry: while market demand is enormous, the sector faces homogenized competition, insufficient high-end supply, and a lack of core technologies. The policy points to a profound supply-side revolution.
1. Technology Empowerment: Driving Intelligence and Health Upgrades
The policy encourages the development of smart pet products using AI, IoT, and other technologies. Smart feeders and pet cameras are just the beginning; the future trend is an intelligent ecosystem integrating health monitoring, behavior analysis, and environment management. In the food sector, high-end and functional products such as customized food, functional snacks, and prescription diets will become key for enterprises to break homogenization and build core barriers.
2. Brand Rise: Sounding the Horn for "Domestic Replacement"
For a long time, the high-end market for pet food and pharmaceuticals has been dominated by international brands. The policy explicitly supports local enterprises in shifting from OEM/ODM to building independent brands. Leading companies like Yuanfei Pet Products have already launched a "dual-drive" strategy, strengthening foreign trade while investing heavily in domestic brand building. With continuous investment in R&D, quality control, and brand storytelling, a "domestic replacement" wave centered on consumer trust has begun.
3. Business Integration: Expanding the Boundaries of "Pet+" Scenarios
The simple logic of "selling goods" is no longer sufficient to support the trillion-yuan market’s potential. The policy promotes the "pet+" cross-border model, extending consumption scenarios from homes to society at large. Pet-friendly restaurants, hotels, shopping malls, parks, and even pet travel—these emerging business formats not only directly drive consumption but also greatly enhance the industry’s added value and integration with modern lifestyles.
03 Systematic Project: From "Unregulated Growth" to "Sustainable Development"
For any industry to thrive in the long run, sound rules are essential. The policy’s implicit regulatory orientation aims to address the chaos caused by previous "unbalanced expansion."
Standardized and Systematic Supervision: In the future, a "white list" for pet food raw materials, production process standards, transparent pricing and standardized procedures for medical services, and professional qualifications for service personnel will be gradually established and improved. This will effectively crack down on industry ills such as "weekend pets" (sick pets sold fraudulently), unlicensed medical treatment, and false product promotion, reshaping market order.
Professional Talent Training: The industry’s talent gap—especially in professional pet veterinarians, groomers, and trainers—is a bottleneck restricting service quality. Through industry-education integration and expanded enrollment and training in related majors, the industry will be supplied with high-quality "professional teams," improving overall service levels.
Synergistic and Clustered Supply Chains: Support for the construction of pet industry parks and industrial belts in places like Pingyang (Zhejiang) and Foshan (Guangdong) aims to leverage cluster effects to optimize the efficiency of the entire industrial chain—from raw materials, R&D, and design to manufacturing and brand marketing—forming an internationally competitive industrial synergy network.
04 A Watershed Moment for China’s Pet Economy
The release of this policy is a watershed moment for China’s pet economy. It declares the end of an era of "unregulated growth" driven by market dividends and ushers in a golden age of high-quality development under policy support, powered by technological innovation, brand building, and standardized operations.
For enterprises in the sector, this is both an unprecedented expansion opportunity and a severe test of core competitiveness. In the past, success lay in identifying demand; in the future, it will depend on creating value. As the policy wind blows across this trillion-yuan consumption hotbed, only enterprises that truly understand pet owners’ needs, delve into product development, and respect industry rules will grow into towering trees in this new landscape.
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