Illustration: Liu Xiangya/GT

Zootopia 2 has enabled the world to see the enthusiasm and potential of consumption in China's third- and fourth-tier cities. On Sunday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Zootopia 2 became the box-office champion in Disney's history, noting that it was "thanks to China." What is striking is that the film "performed particularly well in smaller cities." This has upended a long-standing Western perception of China: that its consumer dynamism is confined to coastal regions or first-tier cities. In reality, China's consumption vitality has long extended deep into its vast interior and across smaller and medium-sized cities. Through box office figures and related data, we are witnessing not only the rise and fall of consumption numbers, but the contours of a massive market - one with enormous potential, more balanced development, and a sustained willingness to engage the world with openness and goodwill.

Zootopia 2 earned 42 percent of its China box office from China's third- and fourth-tier cities through January 19, underscoring that China's economic development is balanced, healthy, and beneficial to a broader population. This "downward market penetration" and "expansion" of consumer spending indicate that high-quality cultural consumption is no longer the preserve of major cities, but has successfully extended into China's vast hinterland. The strong purchasing power for premium cultural products among residents of third- and fourth-tier cities provides compelling evidence that, as the new urbanization strategy advances and the dividends of coordinated regional development are released, the consumption potential across China's interior is being rapidly unleashed. The rapid growth in demand for service-oriented, experience-based, and emotionally resonant consumption - now spreading from major cities to third- and fourth-tier cities - is turning these markets into new engines of China's consumption upgrade. The achievements of China's high-quality economic development are being tangibly translated into a growing sense of gain that is increasingly within reach for hundreds of millions of people.

As China transitions from a "manufacturing powerhouse" to a "consumption powerhouse," the Chinese market's capacity to empower all parties toward win-win outcomes has become even more pronounced. The box office success of Zootopia 2 is by no means a one-way victory of cultural export. In essence, it represents a two-way convergence of Chinese and international commercial forces across the depths of the industrial chain. From co-branded coffee beverages to trend-driven merchandise, Chinese domestic brands have engaged in multidimensional, all-around cooperation with Disney's IP. This ecosystem advantage has enabled foreign companies to reap market gains far beyond box office revenues, while allowing Chinese companies to achieve significant brand upgrading. In an increasingly interconnected era, China's vast market is rapidly evolving from a simple sales terminal into an indispensable value-added link in the global value chain. A new development paradigm, with the domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other, is steadily taking shape.

The phenomenal popularity of Zootopia 2 in China also offers the most powerful and intuitive rebuttal to claims of "consumption downgrade" or "market fatigue." It reveals a deeper logic: Chinese consumer is undergoing a profound evolution, shifting from a former focus on basic material fulfillment, whether there is something to buy, toward a pursuit of higher quality, stronger emotional value, and deeper spiritual resonance, whether it is truly good. From this, the contours of Chinese household consumption are clearly visible: it is shifting toward a balanced emphasis on both goods consumption and service consumption, upgrading from meeting basic needs to pursuing quality experiences. This extension of consumption precisely represents a vast space for industrial upgrading. For China's economy, now at a critical stage of transformation, it signals that the "deep waters" of domestic demand are far from fully explored, and their potential remains immense and unfathomable.

The period of economic transformation is also a significant opportunity. A multi-layered and high-demand domestic market can inject structural resilience into the domestic circulation while better withstanding external uncertainties, enabling China to participate in international circulation with greater confidence and depth. The success of Zootopia 2 in China's third- and fourth-tier cities reminds us that addressing the shortcomings in domestic demand and consumption requires a supply-side approach that continuously embraces innovation. The aspirations of over 1.4 billion Chinese people for a better life create vast potential for consumer demand, and the key to unlocking this potential increasingly lies in personalized and high-quality products and services.

As the lights of third- and fourth-tier cities illuminate the big screen, a China that knows how to pause amid the busyness to enjoy life and is willing to invest in spiritual wealth demonstrates not only economic resilience but also civilizational composure. The "box-office dividend" gained by Zootopia 2 is just the tip of the iceberg of China's consumer potential. This "demand blue ocean," formed by the continuous upgrading of consumption by over 1.4 billion people, along with the new growth points continually created through industrial ecological synergy, serves as the foundation for China's economic upgrading, transformation, and high-quality development, and will become a trustworthy market for the world economy.