Yiwu's marketplace evolves to embrace the digital age

Drones are exhibited at the Yiwu Global Digital Trade Center. (Photo/Gong Xianming)

Yiwu, a city in east China's Zhejiang province known as the "world's supermarket," has entered a new chapter with the launch of the Yiwu Global Digital Trade Center in October, marking the sixth-generation market of Yiwu. Since the early 1980s, Yiwu's small-commodities market has undergone successive relocations and upgrades, each expanding its scale and enhancing its position in global trade.

From street stalls to mega markets

On Oct. 14, the opening day of the Yiwu Global Digital Trade Center, 73-year-old plush toy vendor Zhang Chunhua visited the new complex to celebrate her grandson He Tao's store launch.

Yiwu's journey began in September 1982 with the opening of the Huqingmen Open-Air Market in Choucheng township. The modest roadside market featured 705 stalls offering more than 2,200 types of goods. In December 1984, the second-generation Xinmalu Market opened, marking the beginning of Zhang's business career.

"Each stall was just a concrete slab with steel frames and glass panels overhead," she recalled. During peak seasons, competition for space was so intense that she arrived early each morning to secure a spot.

By 1986, the market had relocated and expanded into the Chengzhong Road Small Commodities Market, the third-generation iteration. Six years later, Yiwu opened the Huangyuan Market -- the fourth generation -- its first large-scale indoor facility, hosting over 15,000 stalls. It was there that Zhang finally secured a permanent booth of her own. "Back then, only two or three vendors sold plush toys," she noted. "Today, more than 400 occupy a single floor."

The fifth-generation market, launched in October 2002, marked a shift toward modern mall-style operations and deeper integration into global trade networks.

Now, Zhang's grandson He Tao operates his store in the sixth-generation market. His shop is three times larger than his grandmother's original booth, allowing for livestreaming and short video production tailored to younger international audiences. "The expanded space makes it easier to connect with global consumers in ways that were unimaginable a generation ago," said He, born in the 2000s.

Foreign merchants buy fashion toys at the Yiwu Global Digital Trade Center. (Photo/Wang Yijie)

From OEM to brand ownership

The launch of the Yiwu Global Digital Trade Center has attracted a new generation of entrepreneurs embracing brand-led growth. Among them is Chen Jiajia, a business owner born in the 1990s and general manager of Zhejiang Yinyuan Optical Instruments Co., who leased three storefronts in the new complex.

"My mother started selling binoculars at Huangyuan Market in 1996 and later established an optical factory," Chen said. "We initially followed the common 'front shop, back factory' model, focusing on OEM (original equipment manufacturer)."

For years, Yiwu's economy was dominated by contract manufacturing and private labeling -- business models characterized by low margins and limited brand equity. "As international buyers increasingly came to Yiwu, we recognized that building our own brand was essential for long-term competitiveness," Chen said. In 2016, she launched the company's own brand, Eyebre.

To raise brand awareness, Chen's team expanded into cross-border e-commerce, actively engaged in international trade exhibitions, and promoted Eyebre in global markets. Within two years, international sales began to gain momentum. Today, Eyebre products are sold in more than 100 countries and regions, with exports accounting for 70 percent of the total business, up from 50 percent.

"Strong brands are built on sustained investment in research and development," Chen said. Starting with binoculars, the company has diversified into more than 1,000 products, including children's microscopes and drone-mounted thermal imaging devices. It is now integrating AI technologies into product innovation.

In the sixth-generation market, brand-driven business models like Eyebre have become commonplace. Among the more than 3,700 merchants currently operating in the Yiwu Global Digital Trade Center, 57 percent either manage their own brands or operate licensed IP-based businesses, highlighting a significant shift from OEM to innovation-driven, value-added commerce.

Merchants learn about payment services at the Yiwu Global Digital Trade Center. (Photo/Gong Xianming)

A fully digital and intelligent upgrade

Navigating Yiwu's sixth-generation market is a markedly different experience, thanks to a comprehensive digital transformation. According to Zhu Xingping, deputy general manager of the Yiwu Global Digital Trade Center, products are now organized by specific consumption scenarios, such as fashion or maternal and infant goods, allowing buyers to source more efficiently through curated, one-stop solutions.

The new center has introduced a sophisticated digital infrastructure, including a proprietary trade large model featuring 13 AI-driven applications. These range from AI-assisted design and visual content creation to multilingual video translation, supporting merchants in overcoming key challenges in product development, marketing, and global outreach.

In the jewelry section, Huang Zixuan, owner of the beaded bracelet store, described how the platform integrates AI design, traffic testing, customer feedback, and online sales into a streamlined workflow. "We upload draft designs, test them through pre-orders, and move to production based on customer feedback," Huang said. "AI enables us to validate consumer interest first, reducing upfront investment and improving efficiency."

With AI-powered video tools, merchants can now produce multilingual product videos simply by speaking Chinese into a smartphone. Captions and translations in languages such as English and Spanish are generated automatically, eliminating language barriers and dramatically enhancing content production.

Like Huang, over 3,700 new-generation merchants at the Yiwu Global Digital Trade Center are leveraging AI technologies to modernize their business models and compete more effectively in the global marketplace.