The "pink economy", or pink money, is a new economic form and business model that seeks to satisfy the living and consumption demands of the LGBT community, developing products and providing services especially tailored to the community. 

It’s estimated that there are around 70 million LGBT people in China, according to the 2015 China LGBT Community Report released by the China Pink Market Conference. Because many of them do not have or do not plan to have children, they are thought to have more disposable income. Analysts estimate that they spend 300 billion US dollars annually.

Many startups in the pink economy are dating apps and broadcasting apps. Professor Li Jinzhao from Beijing Foreign Studies University said the reason why the virtual sphere is one of the most popular spending areas for “pink money” in China is because the offline space for the LGBT community is very limited. They need to resort to online spaces to connect to others in the community. 

At the same time, Professor Liu Baocheng, Dean of the Center for International Business Ethics at the University of International Business and Economics warned that people should be cautious about so-called pink washing, when it comes to businesses looking to profit from the growing LGBT market.

Liu said many companies "may not really support the equality of gender or gender choices or intention, but they just make an unfair amount of money, but show they are being sympathetic."

Speaking of the impact of the US legalization of same-sex marriage, Yang Gang, Sustainable Development Manager at the Beijing Gender Health Education Institute, thought it was a very good example of winning support in society. Comparing it to women getting the vote decades ago, Yang said it’s not only about sexual orientation, it’s about how we treat each other in society.

With the Chinese LGBT community gradually being more accepted by society, corporations are increasingly turning their attention to the development of the "pink economy", and seeking the commercial opportunities arising from it. Professor Li said "invisibility equals death, if you’re not visible, then the majority of society tends to think that you don’t exist. So I think the concept of the pink economy is a very good effort of making this community more visible.‍"