Hello Kitty will soon land in China.

Its parent company Sanrio has signed a master franchise with KT Licensing, a division of Chinese trading group Li & Fung.

Sanrio, a Japanese company which licenses, designs and produces products focusing on fictional characters, is home to more than 200 cartoon characters.

The master franchise deal gives KT Licensing the rights to open Hello Kitty-themed shops. According to KT Licensing GM Lee Sang Kil, most of the shops will be located in second- and third-tier cities.

“There’s tremendous growth potential for Hello Kitty products in China, considering the high popularity of the little cat and the relatively low penetration of the products in this market. I don’t think Chinese consumers will grow tired of this brand for at least 10 years,” said Sang Kil.

Promotional activity is planned to give Chinese fans the chance to meet Hello Kitty.

Having entered China since 2003, Sanrio currently has 100 local licensees across the country. Its businesses include clothing stores, gift shops, groceries, publishing, financial services and themed restaurants and amusement parks.

One of Sanrio’s local licensees, CYF China which operates branded gift shops across the mainland, said its stores in Tianjin and Beijing experienced a 30 per cent revenue increase last year.

CYF China GM Daisy Dai said that most of the sales generator are figurines, watches and bags.

CYF China, which has a total of 120 stores, plans to open 100 to 150 more shops in the next two years. The local licensee which focuses on Hello Kitty products also starts to introduce other fictional characters under Sanrio license such as Little Twin Stars and My Melody.

Hello Kitty, a fictional character created by Yuko Shimizu, accounted 80 per cent of Sanrio’s total revenue of 21.1 billion yen (AUD243.78 million) in 2010.

Hello Kitty will be a rival to Walt Disney’s characters like Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse. Disney plans to open 25 to 40 stores across China in the next three years.

GB