Pop Mart hopes Labubu fans take a shine to its Popop-branded gold jewellery

Pop Mart, the world’s most valuable toymaker, rose on Friday after the company launched a new line of gold jewellery to cash in on the growing popularity of its toys.

The company started selling gold beads, pendants, bars and ornaments under its Popop jewellery brand, featuring one of its main characters, Baby Molly, at its stores in Beijing and Shanghai, according to a statement on Pop Mart’s official WeChat account. The items are priced between 980 yuan (US$137) and 56,800 yuan.

Pop Mart had teased the launch of the gold jewellery on WeChat last Friday.

Pop Mart forayed into jewellery with Popop in January, launching silver necklaces, bracelets and rings ranging from 399 yuan to 2,000 yuan.

The launch of the gold jewellery line provided a boost to the company’s Hong Kong-listed shares, which have been falling since late August after peaking at HK$335.40. The stock soared more than 4 per cent in the morning before ending the day with a gain of 1.2 per cent at HK$276.80, leaving it with a year-to-date gain of more than 200 per cent.

Still, Pop Mart’s valuation of US$47.8 billion is considerably higher than its global rivals Hello Kitty maker Sanrio (US$12.6 billion), Transformers maker Hasbro (US$11.2 billion) and Barbie maker Mattel (US$5.8 billion).