China Toy Expo Week Opens in Shanghai: 2,667 Exhibitors and 2,700+ Licensed IPs Across Four Shows
The 24th CTE China Toy Expo & Trendy Play Expo, the 19th CLE China Licensing Expo, the CKE Baby & Children’s Products Expo and the CPE Preschool Education Expo opened together at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre. With 230,000 sqm of show floor, 2,667 exhibitors from 42 countries and regions, 5,504 brands and over 2,700 licensed IPs, overseas exhibitors hit 667 across 17 national pavilions — up 54.5% year on year. The shows map the industry’s next chapter: cultural empowerment, IP co-creation, functional upgrades and smart innovation.
Four shows, one stage
The four co-located fairs turn Shanghai into the industry’s annual meeting point. CTE carries the mainstream toy and trendy-play assortment; CLE is the licensing engine where local culture meets global IP; CKE covers baby and children’s products; CPE covers preschool education. Together they draw the full value chain — from raw-material and mold makers to brand owners and channel buyers — under one roof.
The numbers behind the floor
Scale is the headline. 42 countries and regions are represented, 5,504 brands fill the halls, and overseas participation is rebounding fast — 667 foreign exhibitors across 17 national pavilions, a 54.5% jump from last year. For exporters, a bigger, more international buyer pool means more doors to knock on.
Cultural empowerment and “made-in-China” IP
The clearest trend on the floor is cultural empowerment — turning local culture into product. Exhibitors showed Spring-Festival hanging-doll blind boxes and Suzhou-garden building-block sets that reframe heritage as play. This is where Chinese toy makers move up the value chain: not just OEM, but original IP built on cultural identity.
IP co-creation, function and smart play
Beyond culture, the shows leaned into IP collaboration, functional upgrades and smart innovation. Highlights included Pop Mart’s magnetic-plush co-brands, “soap-bubble” keycap blind boxes as desk decompression ornaments, 52Toys’ beast-collection blind boxes, and even plant-sensing interactive planter toys. The category is converging on collectible, displayable and increasingly interactive formats.
What this means for exporters
A larger, more international CTE week is a practical sourcing and benchmarking trip for squishy and sensory-toy exporters. Watch where licensed IP, cultural themes and smart features are heading, line up co-creation partners early, and keep an eye on the compliance bar (tying back to new standards such as GB 6675.14-2025) so novel materials and electronics pass testing before they scale.
