China now has more than 90,000 registered wholesale markets and bazaars nationwide, with nearly 1, 000 of them each reporting annual sales in excess of 100 million yuan.

Goods sold in the markets have broadened from agricultural products only in the 1980s to all kinds of industrial products and basic materials for production.

In recent years, the booming of home appliances, computer and curio markets also bolstered the wholesale market.

Yiwu Small Commodity Bazaar, located in east China's Zhejiang Province, is so far the country's biggest wholesale market with annual sales topping 20 billion yuan. Its products are exported to more than ten countries and regions worldwide. A dozen similar wholesale markets have annual sales of more than 10 billion yuan each.

In some provinces, wholesale markets have extended to foreign lands. The city of Mudanjiang in north China's Heilongjiang Province, for instance, has become the country's key exporter of fruits, vegetables, food, electronics and building materials by setting up 80-plus branch markets in Russia. (Xinhua)