This has been slowly built up over the year; aespa is pretty much the only group that constantly trends on Weibo.
(ningning trended for coachella high note & new hair, karina new hair, winter fancam, girls comeback trended, etc.)
They also have 7 #1 hits in China, with Illusion and Life's Too Short hitting #1 as b-sides.
They have a HUGE future in China, it's only gonna grow bigger and bigger. only gg bigger in china is blackpink
note: 500k+ because aespa group bar + giselle bar is over 40k already