On August 25th, NetEase Yanxuan announced via its official Weibo that it’s rolling out a “Paid Pet Care Leave” policy. Starting immediately, employees can directly apply for paid leave when their pets need care due to health issues, with an annual quota of 2 dedicated days. This marks the first time a leading company in China’s internet industry has integrated pet care into its employee paid leave system.
According to an internal memo, this new policy stems from a survey conducted within the company. The data shows that over 80% of employees at NetEase Yanxuan are pet owners, and half of them have experienced situations where their pets fell ill and needed attention. However, two-thirds of these employees previously had to dip into their annual leave, carefully crafting excuses just to get approval. The memo emphasizes that “fur babies” are family members who live side by side with us, so when they need care due to health reasons, employees can simply request leave without hesitation.
Some industry observers suggest that this move, while appearing to be just a nice employee perk, actually reveals a deeper story — it reflects the team’s intense focus on and empathy toward the pet sector.
Founded in April 2016, NetEase Yanxuan is NetEase’s self-operated lifestyle and home goods brand. In 2022, it launched its pet sub-brand “NetEase Tiancheng.” Fast forward to 2026, the company activated its global pet innovation R&D center and took the lead in publishing the group standard for “Fresh Steam Dried Food for Complete Pet Food” — it’s also participated in compiling 10 pet-related group standards so far. On top of that, they’ve rolled out a co-branded pet food series with “The Little Prince.”
Looking at the numbers, NetEase Yanxuan posted net revenue of 1.6 billion yuan in Q2, down 3.5% year-over-year. But its pet category remains a top player on mainstream platforms, with its steam-cooked cat food ranking first in nationwide online sales.
The pet economy is currently expanding into a substantial market, with food being the primary consumer segment. According to the “2026 China Pet Industry White Paper,” the urban pet (dog and cat) consumption market hit 312.6 billion yuan in 2025, up 4.1% from 2024. Broken down, dog consumption reached 160.6 billion yuan (up 3.2%), while cat consumption hit 152 billion yuan (up 5.2%). Projections show the market swelling to 405 billion yuan by 2028 — 192.3 billion from dogs and 218.4 billion from cats.
Looking at the spending breakdown, food dominated with a 53.7% share in 2025, with slight upticks in staple food, treats, and nutritional supplements. Medical care came in second at 27.6%, though that’s a bit lower than 2024. Supplies and services trailed at 12.2% and 6.5%, respectively.
As the top consumer market within the pet economy, the pet food space is fiercely competitive. According to an incomplete tally by industry media outlet Chongjing Shuo, over 70 new brands launched more than 100 new pet staple food products in the first half of 2025, priced anywhere from 19.9 yuan to 300 yuan, catering to consumers across different spending levels.
On the domestic brand front, Manor Ranch, Milkground, Yili, and Three Squirrels have all started dabbling in pet food. In January of this year, Three Squirrels announced it invested in establishing a wholly-owned subsidiary, Anhui Three Squirrels Pet Food Co., Ltd., to incubate the new sub-brand “Gold Medal Dad,” zeroing in on the pet food segment.
Foreign brands that hold a major share of China’s pet food market are also ramping up new product launches to defend their turf. Purina’s premium brand Pro Plan under Nestlé is pushing pet food as gifts — back in early 2024, it launched “Lucky Money Food” for kittens and puppies across all channels. Just this August, Royal Canin, Mars’ high-end pet food brand, dropped three new products: a complete formula for small adult dogs, a complete diet for breeding adult dogs, and a breed-specific formula for Corgis. The Corgi-specific food is Royal Canin’s first global recipe tailored to Chinese pet owners’ breed preferences, customized for this wildly popular domestic dog breed.
In such an intensely competitive landscape, NetEase Yanxuan’s decision to launch the “Paid Pet Care Leave” as a company benefit cleverly ties its internal welfare to its external brand positioning — a fresh playbook for domestic brands looking to win hearts and minds.
