'World's Supermarket' Yiwu sees surging orders for sporting goods driven by Asian Games

Yiwu, a city dubbed the "World's Supermarket" in east China's Zhejiang Province, has seen a surge in orders for sporting goods as the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou approaches.

Statistics from Yiwu Customs show that exports of sporting goods from Yiwu reached 2.85 billion yuan ($397.5 million) in the first five months of the year, an increase of 15.6 percent over the same period last year.

A store selling sports goods at Yiwu International Trade Market. (Xinhua file photo)

Purchases from Asian customers has significantly increased, according to business owners at the Yiwu International Trade Market, the world's largest wholesale market of small commodities.

"Previously, we sold an average of around 7,000 pairs of rackets to Africa a month, compared to around 4,000 pairs to Asia. But we are selling more to Asia now,” said Li Zhi, a racket shop owner.

The 19th Asian Games has also fueled the popularity of customized sporting goods.

Xiang Lili, who has been selling balls for sports at the Yiwu International Trade Market for more than 10 years, said many of the current orders are customized goods. Although they are mostly small in value and quantity, customers generally have higher requirements for the balls. This means higher prices and relatively larger profit margins.

Manufacturers have also enjoyed good business. The production devices of some companies are in full swing, but they still can't keep up with demand.

Some of the factories are so busy that they can only deliver after three months, said Chen Xianchun, a business owner at the Yiwu International Trade Market.

"I sew 400 to 500 balls a day. We have always been busy since the beginning of the year," said Yang Yinzhen, a worker at a football manufacturer in Yiwu. The orders the company receives have now been scheduled to be produced in November.

"This year, we have gained some new Asian customers. Thanks to the Asian Games, customers from countries like Vietnam and the Philippines have come to make purchases," said Zheng Guoqun, an executive of a football manufacturing company in Yiwu.

Zheng added that each customer places orders for around 400 or 500 units, with 50 items per unit.

"However, we can only allocate around 200 or 300 units to each customer and deliver them gradually because of our limited production capacity," Zheng said.

To cope with the surge in orders, many sporting goods businesses in the city have enhanced collaboration with manufacturers from various regions across China.