Weight control in China used to be a private affair. But now it is a national project. When 16 central government departments, including the National Health Commission (NHC), issued a joint report initiating the national three-year weight management campaign in June 2024, social media platforms like Weibo and Xiaohongshu lit up overnight. The plan for popularizing healthier lifestyles and curbing obesity-linked chronic diseases has struck a chord across the country, turning personal goals into a national weight watchers drive.

Light meals: the new craze

Chinese wisdom often says losing weight means “shut the mouth and move the legs.” Diet, therefore, remains the first line of defense against being overweight and obese. Therefore, low-calorie, low-sugar, and low-fat foods are now staples for those trying to shed or control their weight.

At lunch time, white-collar employees sit in the sun-filled glass hall of Zhonghai Huanyuhui Shopping Center in Beijing’s Chaoyang district, and order dishes from Wagas, the Western-style chain known for energy bowls, sandwiches, and “modern Asian” light meals.

Qie Fang, a post-80s white-collar worker, is a regular. Like many colleagues, she lunches on salads built around vegetables and whole grains, topped with steak, chicken breast or salmon. “Light meals” are not merely dishes but a nutritional philosophy: low sugar, low fat, low oil, low salt, and high fibre, she told?China Today.

“Cooking is minimalist. Foods are raw, blanched, steamed or stewed, with seasoning kept to a minimum. This is exactly the formula promoted by fitness influencers and science bloggers, and now a rising trend among the health-conscious,” she added.

At first, Qie hunted for healthy recipes on Xiaohongshu, but with the pressure of work eating into her time, she turned to the restaurants for convenience. On Dazhong Dianping – a popular Chinese app for reviews and recommendations, a quick search for “light meals” yields a long list: Wagas, Superbowl, Subway, Avocado Tree and many more.

“In just two years, the number of light-meal outlets has at least doubled; some chains even hire celebrities to endorse them,” Qie said.

According to Tianyancha – a business platform that provides services such as corporate information queries, business registration checks, and credit assessments, China now hosts more than 14,000 light-meal companies, 59 percent of which were established within the past five years. Meanwhile, new registrations keep climbing: over 4,000 newcomers in 2024 and more than 1,000 during the first quarter of 2025 alone.

When there is no time even for a salad, someone grabs a “meal replacement,” such as mixed grain powder. “This is a kind of powder that can be mixed with water or milk to replace a full meal. The most common versions are grain, bean or tuber-based blends supplemented with roots, stems or fruits,” Qie said. There are many options on supermarket shelves, which are stocked with fruit-and-veggie powders, protein blends, cereal replacements, and fiber powders.

A report by Huatai Securities, a financial services company, puts China’s meal-replacement market at RMB 5.82 billion in 2017 and RMB 175 billion in 2023. With demand still growing, the market is expected to reach RMB 353 billion by 2027.

Sportswear: between fashion and professional

People who are determined to “move the legs” have turned high-performance, highly personalized sportswear into an everyday necessity.

A survey conducted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 2024 shows that urban residents take part in an average of 3.4 kinds of sports monthly, exercising for 50 minutes each time. Among these sports, walking and running, the least demanding, are the most popular, accounting for 63 percent and 56 percent respectively. Sports footwear and apparel dominate spending, with 83 percent of respondents having bought these items in the past year.

Zhou Xuebin, a resident near the National Olympic Sports Center in Beijing, is an avid runner. “The neighborhood is teeming with joggers after dark; you can’t help joining in,” he said. He also mentioned that his colleagues often compare the latest running shoes in the way others discuss new phones. His wife occasionally joins in, but while he sticks to mainstream sports brands, she prefers fashion-forward labels such as Salomon and On Running.

At DT51, a mall popular with young trendsetters in Beijing’s Chaoyang District, urban athletes often pair comfortable, technical Salomon sneakers with lululemon tights, Arc’teryx shells or Ralph Lauren polos. The look is both gym-ready and street-smart, epitomizing the outdoor-chic wave that has turned performance gear into everyday fashion.

“Comfort comes first, followed by brand reputation, technical performance, and then its multifunctionality,” Zhou said. As weight management fuses with health aesthetics, products are becoming more specialized and designs more diversified.

Tech-savvy fitness

Zhou is equally keen on smart fitness gadgets. He follows every new feature on Apple, Huawei and Xiaomi watches. From sleep-time heart-rate and SpO? monitoring, to real-time audio feedback on cadence and pace via ear buds, wearables like these are driving a fresh surge in health-related consumption, said Zhou.

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Wearable Device Tracker, China’s wrist-worn device market grew 19 percent in 2024 to 61 million units, making China the world’s largest market.

In China, Keep and Fitbit bands have become wrist fixtures for millions. Young Chinese consumers show a strong preference for smart health devices, making them an increasingly dominant force in the wellness market.

An action plan was also released by the Ministry of Commerce this April to further boost consumption in this sector, calling for “smart, compact, portable devices for fitness and outdoor sports” and “priority support for the development and iteration of wearable electronics and sports equipment.”

AI is taking personalization even further. Keep AI, a state-of-the-art test suite armed with exercise data from 140 million users, now uses AI to generate dynamic training plans, correct form in real time and offer nutrition advice tailored to each user’s dietary physiology, turning “standardized content” into “a digital personal trainer for everyone.”

Xiaomi, China’s hottest tech company, is also betting on AI fitness. Its Mi Home smart ecosystem already includes treadmills, spin bikes, smart ropes, fascia guns, and ab roller wheels, plus Mi bands and watches, forming an integrated product matrix.

With AI advancing rapidly and policy tailwinds persisting, health monitoring and sports practices are set to become mainstream. New wearables are becoming invisible, ultra-light and ever smarter, blending seamlessly into daily life, exercise and health management. Smart devices are evolving from niche gadgets into everyday necessities for China’s growing healthy lifestyle brigade.