Christmas items in a market in Yiwu.

Christmas items made in China take up a large market share around the world, making China an increasingly important role in the global Christmas market, International Financial News reported on Dec. 25.

The Christmas tree, one of the most popular goods for the Christmas holiday, showed two trends in Western countries this year. First is the popularity of the “Upside Down Christmas Tree,” which costs hundreds of dollars online and nearly $1,000 in stores. Second is the shortage of planted Christmas trees.

Against such a backdrop, Western countries turned to artificial trees made in China. Data shows that Christmas trees made in China account for two thirds of the trees in the North American market, which takes up 51.3 percent of global consumption of the trees.

Christmas products in Yiwu, the largest small commodity wholesale market in China, hold about 60-70 percent of the global sales share, according to Cai Qinliang, secretary-general of the Yiwu Christmas Products Industry Association.

Cai added that from September 2016 to August 2017, Yiwu produced $3 billion worth of Christmas items.

With the development of cross-border e-commerce, China’s Christmas trade has gradually moved online. And thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative and the freight trains connecting Yiwu and Europe, China has expanded its European market.