Fake Labubus, also known as Lafufus, are flooding the hidden market. As demand for the collectable furry keyrings soars, entrepreneurs in the southern trading hub of Shenzhen are wasting no time sourcing imitation versions to sell to eager Labubu hunters. But the Chinese authorities, keen to protect a rare soft-power success story, are cracking down on the counterfeits.
“Labubus have become very sensitive,” says one unofficial vendor, in her small, unmarked, fake designer goods shop hidden on the 17th floor of a bland office building in Shenzhen’s Huaqiangbei district, an area known for cheap electronics. “We don’t dare to talk about it,” her colleague adds.
Labubus, a furry bunny-eared elf sold by Chinese toy company Pop Mart, have gone viral this year. Touted by celebrities from Rihanna to Blackpink’s Lisa, the “ugly-cute” dolls have been so in demand that in the UK Pop Mart pulled the grinning monsters from all stores because of the risk of fights breaking out between customers. In the UK they retail for £17.50, while official versions in China sell for between 99 and 399 yuan (£10.30 – £41.40), with resale prices soaring much higher.
The hype has been embraced by the Chinese authorities, who have hailed Pop Mart as the latest Chinese brand to gain popularity overseas, following the likes of the viral video game Black Myth: Wukong and AI company DeepSeek.
In June, People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist party’s official mouthpiece, praised Labubus as representing the shift from “Made in China” to “Created in China”. “Labubu’s rise fuses China’s strong manufacturing base with creative innovation, tapping into the emotional needs of global consumers,” the article said.
Pop Mart’s elevation to the status of national hero also appears to have motivated the authorities, in a country trying to shed its reputation for being a land of knock-offs, to aggressively crack down on fakes. In April, customs authorities in the eastern city of Ningbo intercepted a batch of 200,000 goods suspected of infringing Labubu’s intellectual property, according to state media, with another sting last month catching over 2,000 fake goods.