Chinese customs seize thousands of counterfeit Labubu items in Ningbo crackdown

Customs officers in Ningbo intercepted three shipments stuffed with counterfeit LABUBU goods, a haul that puts the scale of the knockoff problem in sharp relief for collectors chasing Pop Mart’s hottest line. Beilun Customs, under Ningbo Customs in Zhejiang Province, found 2,350 blind boxes, 4,410 plush toys, 9,400 keychains, 495 raincoats and 1,200 combs that were either unreported or carried Pop Mart branding and close copies of LABUBU designs.

The goods were preliminarily identified as infringing intellectual property, then verified with the rights holder, confirming trademark and copyright violations. That matters because the counterfeit market has moved beyond the obvious plush figure and into accessory categories that can slip past a quick glance, especially in blind-box style shipments where a mix of small items can hide in plain sight.

The June 2025 enforcement also fits a pattern Ningbo customs has been building through the year. On April 23, 2025, officers detained nearly 200,000 suspected LABUBU-infringing items, including plastic stamps, keychain pendants, plastic zipper bags, rubber floor mats and plastic blocks. In another Beilun Customs case, officials found three batches with unreported LABUBU blind boxes and plush toys, and rights-holder verification again confirmed copyright and trademark infringement.

For anyone trying to avoid a fake, the practical warning from these seizures is straightforward: do not treat LABUBU accessories as lower-risk than the figures themselves. Customs officials have said counterfeit LABUBU products often look similar to genuine ones but differ in details and materials, which is exactly why blind boxes, keychains, raincoats and combs are now part of the problem. Buy through official channels, not gray-market listings that cannot document origin or intellectual-property status.

The crackdown also reflects how much is at stake. Pop Mart said 2024 revenue reached RMB 13.04 billion, up 106.9 percent year on year, while THE MONSTERS, the IP family that includes LABUBU, brought in RMB 3.04 billion, up 726.6 percent and the company’s largest IP group. Pop Mart’s first-half 2025 revenue climbed to RMB 13.88 billion, up 204.4 percent year on year, and the company said it had completed customs filing in 27 countries and regions to strengthen rights protection.

Kasing Lung created The Monsters in 2015, and LABUBU’s pointed ears and serrated teeth made it easy to recognize, and easy to copy. Ningbo customs said fake LABUBU goods can harm consumers, disrupt market order and damage the international reputation of Chinese original brands. With repeated seizures now running through Ningbo, the message for buyers is clear: the safest LABUBU is the one that comes from a verified source, not a shipment that only looks authentic until the box is opened.