The "Rui Shou Benben" blind box, originally designed through a collaboration between China Life Insurance Company Limited (China Life) and Sina Finance, has been honored with the "2025 Card Toy Glory IP" award. This recognition was announced at the grand "2025 Global Cultural IP Industry Development Conference & 2025 Cultural IP Cloud Night - Glory Ceremony," held in Shanghai on December 27, 2025. The event, which actively responded to the national strategy of building a strong cultural nation, focused on the innovative integration of cultural IP and technology across ten distinct tracks, ultimately selecting benchmark cases renowned for their creativity and influence. Notably, China Life was the sole financial and insurance brand honored at the ceremony, sharing the stage with prestigious cultural IPs like Jingdezhen, the Sanxingdui Museum, and JD.com, which highlighted its proactive exploration in brand rejuvenation and cultural innovation.
The conference thoroughly implemented the directives from the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China concerning the "prosperous development of cultural programs and industries." Guided by the spirit of the "14th Five-Year Plan" for cultural development, the awards employed an evaluation system based on six key dimensions, including "innovativeness, communicability, and national character," aiming to unearth and celebrate outstanding cultural IPs that embody the spirit of the times.
Based on the brand mascot, Niu Benben, the China Life "Rui Shou Benben" blind box ingeniously incorporates elements of six traditional auspicious beasts: the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Phoenix, Black Tortoise, and Qilin. Through youthful design details in clothing and accessories, it transforms classic cultural symbols into trendy collectibles that align with contemporary aesthetics. The series not only carries the positive connotations of "guarding the people and wishing them auspiciousness and well-being" but also effectively reaches younger consumer demographics with its lively and adorable imagery, showcasing China Life's transformation in brand communication strategies towards a younger audience.
In addition to the physical blind boxes, the project simultaneously launched an animated short film titled "Ben Teng Rui Shou" (Galloping Auspicious Beasts). The film features a young volunteer and the auspicious beast Benben working together to protect the world, telling a heartwarming story that conveys China Life's service philosophy and social responsibility. Furthermore, by organizing interactive activities such as co-creation sessions for the auspicious beast images, the project sparked widespread participation on social media platforms, further strengthening the emotional connection between the brand and its younger audience.
This award is not only high recognition from the industry for China Life's innovative capabilities in cultural IP but also demonstrates a significant breakthrough for a financial brand in achieving rejuvenation through cross-border integration. Being honored alongside top domestic cultural IPs has further enhanced the brand's recognition and affinity within the youth market. Looking ahead, China Life will continue to partner with collaborators like Sina Finance to deepen its efforts in the field of cultural innovation, promoting the fusion of traditional aesthetics with modern trends to inject lasting vitality into the brand.
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