Some malls are open to pets, driving customer traffic and doubling turnover. Shanghai is developing the first specialized management standard for the "pet economy," making it a new "pivot" for commercial entities.

The "White Paper on Pet Fashion Trends in 2025" released during the Shanghai Pet Fashion Week this year shows that last year, for the first time, the number of pets in China exceeded that of children under 4 years old. The market size of the pet industry in China has surpassed 700 billion yuan, and is expected to reach 1.15 trillion yuan by 2028. Driven by the growing "pet economy", a number of commercial real estate developments, such as Wanda Plaza in Suzhou, have started to explore the concept of being "pet-friendly". According to data from Cushman & Wakefield, the proportion of pet-related and other services in the total area of new retail stores in shopping centers in Shanghai last year reached 2.1%, an increase of 0.6 percentage points compared to the previous year. Pet-friendly malls attract customers with cute pets and enter a new consumption avenue.