Alipay will kick off its annual Lunar New Year "collect‑fu" campaign on February 3, the company confirmed in a short notice on NetEase. For 2026 the platform has added a new digital red packet called "Health Fu" (健康福), which will be issued by Ant Group’s mascot, Ant Afu (蚂蚁阿福), alongside the familiar set of blessing cards that users swap and collect each Spring Festival.
The launch is the latest instalment in a now‑familiar ritual: Chinese tech platforms turn the Lunar New Year into a major marketing battleground, using gamified giveaways to drive daily active users, boost payments volume and surface other services. Alipay’s fu campaign, a staple since the mid‑2010s, mixes nostalgia with digital incentives — collectible cards, peer sharing and the chance of cash or coupon prizes — to re‑engage lapsed users and keep the ecosystem sticky during a high‑spend season.
The addition of a "Health Fu" packet signals two intertwined aims. At a surface level it refreshes the campaign mechanics, offering new content and a fresh talking point to spur social sharing. Deeper down, it aligns the promotion with broader public‑interest themes: post‑pandemic awareness of health, the aging population and the government’s push to marshal private resources for social goods. Branding a red packet around health also opens pathways for cross‑promotion with Ant’s health, insurance and pharmacy partners.
For international observers, the announcement is a reminder of how Chinese platforms monetise cultural moments. These holiday initiatives are not merely feel‑good stunts; they are expensive, carefully calibrated exercises in customer acquisition and data capture. By encouraging users to invite friends, scan offline codes and interact with mini‑programs, Alipay collects behavioural signals that feed recommendation engines, advertising and financial product pitching long after the holiday ends.
The move also unfolds against a backdrop of regulatory caution. Beijing has already tightened rules on fintech, data use and platform monopolies, and festive giveaways that sweep up personal contacts and payment habits have attracted scrutiny in the past. Platforms therefore balance reach with compliance: promoting public‑minded themes like health can soften optics while creating legitimate product ties that pass muster with regulators.
Ultimately, Alipay’s new "Health Fu" is a small tactical innovation with outsized strategic purpose. It refreshes an established engagement engine, nudges users toward health‑adjacent services, and helps Ant maintain visibility in the crowded holiday marketplace — all while signalling to regulators and the public that its commercial ambitions can be steered toward socially acceptable narratives.
For competitors, the announcement is a cue rather than a shock: WeChat Pay and other players will respond with their own seasonal activations, ensuring that the Lunar New Year remains a critical, highly contested moment in China’s digital economy calendar. For users, the immediate effect is familiar: more collectible cards, new stickers to share and another reason to open the app every day of the festival.