Huang Yiping: From Pet Fish Oil to Children's Sunscreen, Chinese Innovation Creates New Niche Markets

Ask AI · How can China’s homegrown innovative brands create value beyond in new tracks?

China Economic Herald reporter Sun Lichao, reporting from Boao, Hainan

Huang Yiping, a Peking University Boya Distinguished Visiting Professor and Director of the National Development Research Institute at Peking University, said during an interview with media including China Business News at the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia 2026 Annual Conference on March 24 that innovation in economic development can be reflected both in ever-improving efficiency and in meeting the people’s aspiration for a better life. There are many brand-new, independent tracks that have grown in China’s market through innovation.

Huang Yiping said that innovation is something that takes place in all dimensions. Recently, the National Development Research Institute of Peking University led the drafting of a “consumer brand index.” In the course of studying consumer goods, it was found that many traditional brands—such as Huawei and Apple—have high brand awareness and excellent product quality, so their brand index is also high. There are also some emerging fast-moving consumer goods industry products with striking brand index figures. Most of these new brands come from China’s homegrown market. Moreover, the prices of these innovative products in China are no longer cheaper than those of overseas brands. This is because many new tracks have emerged, such as children’s sun protection products and fish oil for pets. Many large international brands in the past believed these would not be independent tracks, but now they have become new tracks, giving rise to all kinds of new products and new brands.

The Outline of the Fifteenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the “15th Five-Year Plan Outline”), released on March 13, proposes to uphold high-quality development. Guide development with the new development philosophy; develop new quality productive forces in a manner suited to local conditions; strengthen the domestic large circulation; facilitate the dual circulation of domestic and international markets; coordinate the expansion of domestic demand with the deepening of supply-side structural reforms; accelerate the cultivation of new drivers; promote optimization and upgrading of the economic structure; make more of the increment and revitalize the stock; and ensure sustained healthy economic development and comprehensive social progress.

Connecting it with the newly released “15th Five-Year Plan Outline,” Huang Yiping said that high-quality development is very important for sustaining China’s development and improving people’s lives. At the same time, China’s high-quality development will also have a far-reaching impact on the world economy. China’s development is inseparable from the world market and from the global economic system. China is becoming a leader in global economic growth and technological innovation, and its influence in the global economic landscape is growing steadily.

On December 18, 2025, Hainan Free Trade Port officially began full-island closed-loop operations, and March 27, 2026 will mark the 100th day since the closure-and-entry regime. Huang Yiping said that in the past, Hainan’s development mainly focused on tourism and real estate, while in the future, the focus of development should shift toward modern services and high-tech industries.

“Going forward in the development of Hainan’s Free Trade Port, it will be necessary to match different financial services with different industries and tracks. For example, for technology tracks, it needs a lot of venture capital funds to support innovation.” Huang Yiping said that traditional financial institutions such as banks played a very significant role during large-scale industrialization. But now relying entirely on traditional financial institutions to support technological innovation and industrial innovation can still play a role, yet it also has shortcomings. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt new financial models such as venture capital funds.

(Editor: Wu Jing; Reviewer: Zhu Ziyun; Proofreader: Zhai Jun)