Medialink was founded in Hong Kong in 1994 as a content trading agency. Three decades later, under co-founder Lovinia Chiu, it has grown into a fully-fledged IP management company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with its own streaming platforms, e-commerce channels, concert label, merchandising arm and mega event IP.

At this year’s Licensing Expo, Licensing Magazine sat down with Chiu to explore how Medialink built its dual content-and-merchandising engine, why the US market remains a key barometer for Japanese and Chinese IP alike, and how the company’s boldest venture yet, the Hong Kong IP mega event CON-CON, is reshaping what a property showcase can look like.

The conversation ranged from Medialink’s early bets on Japanese anime titles such as Pokémon, Gundam and Ultraman, to its role in pioneering “high-teen” animation, and finally to the IP innovation platform Hong Kong-born convention-meets-festival that mixes Japanese and local IP into unexpected collaborations, from a Godzilla-branded popsicle to a bespoke fragrance. Chiu also shared her plans to take the concept to the rest of Asia, and revealed early thinking on an even larger event slated for around 2028.

Medialink is often described as a leading Chinese licensing agency. Is that how you see the company today?

We don’t call ourselves an agent anymore; we call ourselves an IP management company. I have worked in this industry for 37 years, since 1988, and we listed on the main board in Hong Kong on 21 May 2019, so we have just marked our seventh anniversary as a public company. We manage IP across two main business streams. The first is content distribution, but not in the simple sense of buying and selling: we also run our own platforms.

Ani-One® is our Japanese anime channel, which already has over ten million subscribers on YouTube. We also have Ani-Mi®, which carries Chinese anime, Ani-Music-One, our concert label, Ani-Mall®, our e-commerce arm, and Ani-Two® for merchandise. That is the ecosystem we have built: content on one side, merchandise and experience on the other.

Technology changed everything for us, from free TV to pay TV, cable, satellite and now streaming. Merchandising and licensing came in 1995, starting with the Japanese anime title Ninja Boy, followed by Mojako. Mojako led directly to Pokémon: the Japanese licensor was surprised that a small company like ours had made it so successful, so they entrusted us with Pokémon. From there came Gundam, the Ultraman titles, and Beyblade.

More recently we have focused heavily on high-teen animation (audiences of twenty and older). This shift opened the door to the high-teen titles that dominate today: Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, My Hero Academia, Bleach, Gintama, and Solo Leveling.

Where does Medialink stand today in terms of its business mix?

When we listed, our revenue split was roughly 80% content distribution and 20% licensing, and I always told people our ideal scenario would be closer to 50/50. Content on its own is essentially marketing; placing a title on a broadcaster or a streaming platform does not generate significant profit on its own. The real money comes from merchandise. As our current financial year closes in March, we saw the ratio moving toward 60% content and 40% merchandising. Whatever the Japanese studios are producing, the goal is to recoup investment through merchandising, whether that is apparel, toys or figures.

What brings you to the US market and to Licensing Expo specifically?

Licensing 101 really started for us in the US. Having a booth here lets me understand what buyers in the US, the UK and elsewhere are looking for, which is invaluable. At the same time, I have Chinese IP that I want to take global, and this is the best platform to do it. C-pop is rising fast internationally, the way J-pop and K-pop did before it. Platforms like Netflix are already picking up Chinese dramas: one costume drama is currently in Netflix’s global top five, and streaming really does make careers now.

Let’s talk about CON-CON, Medialink’s Hong Kong IP Mega event. How would you describe it?

For me, CON-CON is a new revenue model and, in many ways, a succession plan to train new talent from Hong Kong across IP and creative entertainment. Furthermore, under China’s 14th and 15th Five-Year Plans, Hong Kong has been designated the regional IP trading hub. I wanted to show the Hong Kong government what that actually looks like in practice, so we built a platform that blends leading international IP with Hong Kong IP: CON-CON as convention, but also as connection. It is an IP innovation platform where brands innovate, collaborate and present something new.

CON-CON Hong Kong runs annually, and the plan is to take the format to other Asian territories each year. Bangkok maybe next, where we will work with local artists and brands such as Gentlewoman, Jasper and Crybaby. The same model would apply in Korea, and eventually in the US, always pairing Japanese, Chinese, and Hong Kong IP with local talent to expand everyone’s fan base. Our co-branding approach is called “Mix Some FUN!”, our immersive experiences are “Mix Some NOISE!”, and the music festival is “Mix Some MUSIC!”.

Can you tell us more about the IP crossovers and the size of the first edition?

CON-CON is not a conventional exhibition. Every collaboration starts with a conversation about how to translate a character’s DNA. One example is Godzilla teaming up with Kyubi (a hugely popular local superstar brand): together we created a spicy Sichuan orange Godzilla popsicle. It took more than nine months to secure approval, but it sold out within a day. Another example is a small local perfume company, Scentist, which created a bespoke CON-CON fragrance featuring notes of cedarwood, pear and cotton tree.

The first edition in Hong Kong drew around 30,000 footfall across both B2B and B2C audiences. The event brought together Japanese publishers and IP holders such as Kadokawa, Kodansha and Sony, alongside home-grown Hong Kong IP. Medialink organised it entirely in-house with a core team of roughly twenty people.

How does CON-CON compare to other IP-driven events in Asia, and will Medialink run the international editions the same way?

KCON in Japan draws around 140,000 people but is built purely around Korean IP. CON-CON is different: it pairs Japanese IP with local IP everywhere it travels, which nobody else has done. After Hong Kong and Bangkok, we are potentially looking at Korea, then Malaysia. One of my longer-term goals is to eventually bring the concept back to Japan itself, a ‘CON-CON Japan’.

For international editions, we have set up a separate entity, CON-CON Hong Kong Limited. While the Hong Kong edition was funded entirely by Medialink, for outside markets we are actively looking for the right investors and local partners who understand and value IP.

Looking further ahead, what can you tell us about Medialink’s next big project?

There is a larger event in the works for around 2028; I can share the broad idea but the details are still confidential. The next one will be built on a different genre altogether, and it will spotlight a single country as a future major source of IP for the world. I have already had early conversations with companies in China about it. The model will follow the same convention-meets-festival approach, letting IP owners find each other’s audiences and grow together globally.