A businessman (left) from Georgia looks at trophies in Yiwu, East China’s Zhejiang Province on April 8, 2024. With the Paris Olympic Games approaching, Yiwu has ushered in a peak season for the sale of sporting goods, with people from all over the world shopping for balls, flags and trophies in a wide range of stores. Photo: VCG
Orders related to the upcoming Paris Olympic Games have seen strong growth for merchants in Yiwu, the small commodities hub in East China’s Zhejiang Province, the Global Times learned from industry insiders on Monday.
The strong orders demonstrate that China’s products remain competitive and in demand in the international market.
There are three months to go until the Paris 2024 Olympics in July, and factory owners and traders in Yiwu are busy fulfilling all the orders from Europe.
Wen Congjian, general manager of Yiwu Danas Import and Export Co, is dealing with orders related to sports events around the world, the Paris Olympics in particular.
He was so busy with new orders or talking with clients that he was interrupted several times during an interview with the Global Times on Wednesday.
Wen’s company is also dealing with urgently needed orders for the Euro 2024 and Copa América soccer tournaments, which start in less than two months in June.
Because of the booming orders and tight production schedule, Wen said that “the new orders for the Olympic Games have piled up till June.”
Yiwu Danas Import and Export Co mainly deals in original jerseys, from design to manufacturing, giving them a competitive advantage in terms of original design and production cost.
In preparation for this year's Paris Olympics, Wen has been increasing innovation related to sports jerseys while also registering the copyrights for the original designs. From February until now, he has registered nearly 20 copyrights. Currently, his company has received more than 150,000 orders for these new jerseys.
The orders for Wen’s company are mainly from overseas, and the goods are sold to 53 countries around the world.
Orders for the Olympic Games in Paris started coming in at the end of last year and they are still coming, Chen Xianchun, another Yiwu-based trader, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Chen’s company makes trophies and medals, mainly for export to France, and at present, “orders have been scheduled until May,” he said.
The competitive advantages for Yiwu goods remain strong as orders can be arranged at short notice and the production costs are relatively low, industry insiders told the Global Times.
Zhou Jian, a manager with Yiwu Jianyong Sports Co, told the Global Times that the Olympic Games offer huge business opportunities. The table tennis balls that Zhou’s company makes are selling well and are highly profitable.
The cheapest table tennis ball in the store is 0.6 yuan ($0.083) each, while the price of six table tennis balls for the Paris Olympics are around 40 yuan, which is equivalent to more than six yuan each, Zhou said, indicating the high profitability for the Olympic product.
The hot sales are reflected in the trade figures for Yiwu. Data that Yiwu Customs provided to the Global Times on Monday shows that in the first quarter, Yiwu's sports goods exports totaled 22.0 billion yuan, an increase of 46.2 percent year-on-year.
Among them, sports goods exports from Yiwu to the EU amounted to 2.3 billion yuan, up 32.2 percent year-on-year. Also in the same period, Yiwu's exports to France reached 7.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.4 percent, with the Olympic Games being an important driver.
据了解，随着即将到来的巴黎奥运会，中国东部的小商品集散中心——浙江义乌的商户接到的订单有了显著增长。
距离2024年7月的巴黎奥运会还有三个月时间，义乌的工厂老板和商人们正忙于完成来自欧洲的所有订单。
义乌丹纳斯进出口有限公司总经理温聪健目前正在处理与全球体育赛事相关的订单，尤其是巴黎奥运会的订单。他在接受《环球时报》采访时因新订单或与客户交谈而多次被打断。
温聪健表示，由于订单激增和生产时间紧迫，“奥运会的新订单已堆积至6月。” 丹纳斯公司主要经营原创球衣，从设计到制造，这使他们在原创设计和生产成本方面具有竞争优势。为了准备今年的巴黎奥运会，温聪健已经加大了与体育球衣相关的创新力度，同时还注册了近20项原创设计版权。目前，他的公司已接到超过150,000份新球衣的订单。温聪健的公司订单主要来自海外，商品销往全球53个国家。
另一位义乌商人陈先春告诉记者，巴黎奥运会的订单从去年年底开始陆续进入，目前仍在持续。陈先春的公司生产奖杯和奖牌，主要出口至法国，目前的“订单已排至五月。”
行业内部人士表示，义乌商品的竞争优势仍然强劲，订单可以在短时间内安排，且生产成本相对较低。
义乌建勇体育用品公司的经理周建表示，奥运会提供了巨大的商业机会。周建的公司生产的乒乓球销售情况良好，利润丰厚。商店里最便宜的乒乓球每个售价为0.6元人民币，而巴黎奥运会的六个乒乓球售价约为40元，相当于每个超过六元，显示出奥运产品的高利润性。
从义乌海关提供的数据显示，今年第一季度，义乌的体育用品出口总额达到220亿元人民币，同比增长46.2%。其中，对欧盟的体育用品出口额为23亿元，同比增长32.2%。同期，义乌对法国的出口额达到73亿元，同比增长22.4%，奥运会是重要的推动因素
