According to Henan Daily, on October 1, the first day of the National Day holiday, Henan Provincial Party Secretary Zhou Zuyi conducted an inspection tour in Zhengzhou to review holiday safety and stability, duty rosters, and tourism market service guarantees. During this visit, Zhou Zuyi went to the headquarters of Mixue Group (HKEX: 02097).
When people think of Henan, the first thing that often comes to mind is the "Central Plains granary." However, in recent years, Henan's private economy has gained strong momentum, giving rise to a growing number of new consumer brands — service benchmark Pang Dong Lai, tea beverage giant Mixue Group (HKEX: 02097), and others. A group of brands with nationwide influence is making Henan increasingly trendy and serving as key benchmarks for activating the regional economy and supporting Henan's high-quality development.
Among them, the Mixue brand was founded in Zhengzhou, Henan, in 1997 and is a national chain brand of fresh ice cream and tea drinks. As residents' consumption continues to upgrade, the freshly made beverage industry is in a period of rapid development. In recent years, Mixue Group (HKEX: 02097) has grown rapidly, becoming a new tea beverage giant that has expanded from Zhengzhou, Henan, to the world. Data shows that Mixue had already reached more than 5,000 stores in 2018, and three years later, in 2021, that number exceeded 20,000. By the end of September 2024, its global stores had surpassed 45,000, including about 37,000 stores in China under the single Mixue brand; by June 30, 2026, the total number of Mixue Group (HKEX: 02097) stores worldwide reached 63,987, of which 59,609 were in mainland China.
In July this year, the 2026 Fortune China 500 list was officially released, with 15 companies from Henan included. Among the listed companies were two "new faces," one of which was Mixue Group (HKEX: 02097). With extreme cost-effectiveness and a massive store network, Mixue Group (HKEX: 02097) has become a benchmark enterprise in the new consumer sector, ranking 423rd on the list.
The growth curve of an enterprise reflects the profound changes in a region's economic structure and also echoes strategic arrangements at the national level. "Adhering to the leadership of domestic demand and building a strong domestic market" is the top priority economic task for 2026 and also a main policy line during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period. Expanding domestic demand cannot be separated from promoting consumption. China has a super-large market of more than 1.4 billion people, and any 1% of demand corresponds to a market space of 14 million people. Data shows that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, China's total retail sales of consumer goods successively surpassed 40 trillion yuan, 45 trillion yuan, and 50 trillion yuan, and China's consumer market scale has steadily ranked second in the world, and when converted by purchasing power parity, it is already the world's first.
The expansion of domestic demand is still continuing to gain momentum. The "15th Five-Year Plan for Expanding Consumption" clearly states that by 2030, the overall scale of the consumer market will continue to expand, the household consumption rate will increase significantly, social consumption of goods and services will grow rapidly, and total retail sales of consumer goods will reach about 60 trillion yuan. At present, China's consumer market is undergoing profound transformation. Consumers are no longer merely satisfied with subsistence consumption of "eating enough and dressing warmly," but are increasingly pursuing quality, experience, and emotional resonance in development-oriented consumption. New consumption is an important breakthrough for consumption growth and upgrading.
The reason new consumer brands, including Mixue Group (HKEX: 02097), can become phenomenal enterprises lies in their precise grasp of the pulse of consumption change: responding to mass demand with high cost-effectiveness, penetrating vast markets with dense store networks, and building emotional connections through brand tone. At the Mixue Group (HKEX: 02097) headquarters, Zhou Zuyi learned about holiday market supply and consumption promotion, and exchanged views with tourists from Anhui, Shandong, and other places about their travel and shopping experiences in Henan. He encouraged enterprises to adhere to high-quality development and innovative development, be guided by market demand, continuously improve products and strengthen brands, constantly enrich consumption scenarios and expand consumer markets, strictly control food safety, and better meet the people's high-quality and diversified consumption needs.