- Facing the epidemic, companies and the government in Yiwu, known as the "World's Supermarket," are striving to find new business paths and opportunities in the crisis.
-- Yiwu's total import and export increased to 136.25 billion yuan (about 19.58 billion U.S. dollars) in H1, up 1.6 percent over the same period last year, despite uncertainties and instabilities in the global economy.
-- The small commodity market in Yiwu is an important chain in the global daily consumer goods trade. Its prosperity is of great significance for stabilizing foreign trade and boosting domestic demand.
by Xinhua writers Yin Xiaosheng, Qu Lingyan and Cui Enhui
HANGZHOU, Aug. 8 -- With a lamp, a laptop and a mobile phone in a shared livestreaming room set up in the Yiwu International Trade Market, the world's leading small commodities market, a female anchor tried on various kinds of jewelry and clothes while interacting with potential buyers online.
The anchor had sold out 2,000 items of black knitwear before the webcast was over. Such scenes are now common in the city of Yiwu in east China's Zhejiang Province, which is home to over 2 million micro, small and medium-sized firms, and sells commodities to about 200 countries and regions every year.
A merchant promotes products via livestreaming at Yiwu international trade city in Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang Province, April 8, 2020. (Photo by Lyu Bin/Xinhua)
"Livestreaming sales is 'win-win' cooperation," said Zhu Sufang, who is among the first batch of merchants in the market to join hands with network anchors.
The partnership brought considerable profits to Zhu's jewelry business, with half of its orders from livestreaming. Despite the impact of COVID-19, her business witnessed a 20-percent growth year on year in the first half of this year (H1).
Zhu is not alone. Facing the epidemic, companies and the government in Yiwu, known as the "World's Supermarket," are striving to find new business paths and opportunities in the crisis.
According to data from Yiwu customs, its total import and export value increased to 136.25 billion yuan (about 19.58 billion U.S. dollars) in H1, up 1.6 percent over the same period last year, despite uncertainties and instabilities in the global economy.
NEW SALES CHANNELS
"Not long ago, our merchants who were used to offline wholesale business refused to cooperate with anchors," said Tao Xiaoyan, an administrator with the China Commodities City in Yiwu.
Tao said the epidemic prompted the offline sellers to change their minds, and now more than half of them have benefitted from livestreaming sales.
