In 2025 alone, major commercial events with audiences exceeding 5,000 people drove more than 220 billion yuan in ancillary spending — including on transportation, accommodation, dining, tourism and retail — beyond direct ticket revenue, as noted by the report.

　　In Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, when pop superstar Jay Chou took the stage for three nights there last April, he did more than entertain tens of thousands of fans.

　　The concerts attracted 141,800 ticketed attendees and about 28,000 fans who gathered outside the concert venue to revel in the atmosphere. Notably, 85 percent of attendees traveled from outside Nanning, said Nanning Weining Group, a State-owned enterprise that manages the city's cultural and tourism assets.

　　The three concerts generated 1.26 billion yuan in citywide consumer spending. The figure offered a vivid illustration of how major cultural events produce ripple effects across hotels, restaurants, retail and transportation — far outstripping ticket sales alone.

　　China's live performance market reached 96.9 billion yuan in 2025 and is projected to surpass 100 billion yuan this year, said consultancy iiMedia Research.

　　Generation Z has emerged as the driving force behind China's surging concert economy, with nearly 60 percent of young consumers willing to pay for emotional value — a trend that is reshaping consumption patterns, said Tian Lihui, dean of the institute of financial development at Nankai University.

　　Cities are increasingly structuring their policies to capture these spillovers. Zhejiang province, for example, has introduced tiered rewards this year for large-scale performances based on cumulative ticket sales, revenue scale, and — crucially — the percentage of attendees traveling from outside the province.