Non-traditional markets

Although sales to the US and European markets decreased, demand from non-traditional markets is increasing, retailers said.

At Yiwu Spaceflight Craftwork Co (Despite its name, the firm is a Christmas specialist), boss Huang Yiming told China Business Weekly that the company sold about US$10 million worth of Christmas decorations to more than 50 countries last year.

The bulk of its customers have been European and North American, but South America now is the company's biggest client, Huang said.

Huang said he expects his company's exports to South America to jump 30 percent, with US$5 million in sales this year.

The company is also diversifying a 10,000-strong product line to include Valentine's Day hearts, Easter bunnies and Halloween monster masks.

Huang said he hopes quality and innovation will see the company through the worst, adding that many manufacturers that collapsed were vulnerable because of their low-cost, low-margin model.

"Places like Yiwu need to be transformed anyway. I think they realize it and are changing already," said Li Jian, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

"We found the market suddenly began to thrive with the order for Christmas products increasing by 30 to 40 percent from last year's figures," said Liu Yang of Lewis Young Enterprises. The company mainly targets the Asian market with a variety of pens.

According to the Shenzhen figures, the export of Christmas products to some non-traditional markets surged 19.9 percent in Latin America, 290 percent in Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries and 91.9 percent in Africa during the first nine months of this year.

The 15th Yiwu International Commodities Fair, held in October, saw its export trade volume reach US$1 billion, up 7.1 percent year-on-year, thanks to a surge in orders from the Middle East and Asia.

Guangzhou Customs statistics showed that in the first seven months of this year, Guangdong exported US$13 million worth of products to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations - up 98.5 percent over the same period in 2008.

(China Daily December 14, 2009)