The New Year of the Snake, Yiwu, Zhejiang, known as the "world supermarket", has once again ushered in a hot market opening. It gathers about 2.1 million kinds of goods, and its trade covers more than 230 countries and regions around the world. It is the "barometer" and "sunny rain" of global small commodity trade. surface".
Through this window of Yiwu, we can not only observe the warm and cold trends of the global economy, but also see China's vivid practice of adhering to high-quality development as the guide and continuously deepening reforms. In the complex and complex situations, active transactions, impressive data, and continuous reform and innovation give people confidence and strength.
Market: We are once again in a "good start"
The dragon soars and lions leaps, and the sound of gongs and drums. After a brief Spring Festival break, Yiwu International Trade City, the world's largest small commodity distribution center, opened its market on February 9.
The dragon dance team performed in the square of Yiwu International Trade City (photo taken on February 9, 2025). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Huang Zongzhi
On the first day of the opening of the market, there were crowds of people in the international trade city, looking for business opportunities and discussing cooperation, and buyers shuttled through it, and foreign faces could be seen everywhere. Kadeka, a buyer from Nepal, plans to purchase goods worth 1 million yuan: "The various products needed in Nepal can be purchased in Yiwu in one-stop, and shipped together with cabinets, and Yiwu plays an irreplaceable role."
Merchants from Nepal (left) watched the dragon dance performance at the opening ceremony at Yiwu International Trade City (photo taken on February 9, 2025). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Huang Zongzhi
According to the Mall Group data, on the first day of the opening of the market, the opening rate of the International Trade City was 95.1%, the total flow of people was 235,000, and 2,776 foreign businessmen entered the market, both of which increased compared with the previous year.
In Yiwu, urban development resonates with global trade, and the increasingly active flow of people has injected a steady stream of new impetus into international trade. In 2024, the average daily flow of people in the International Trade City was 224,300, including 3,900 foreign supermarkets, all of which hit a record high.
In Jinqi Toy Store in District 1 of the International Trade City, thousands of 3D printed toys such as dragons, snakes, turtles, and rays are dazzling. Zeng Hao, the shop head, said that compared with traditional toys, 3D printed toys, bright colors, delicate texture, higher flexibility at joints, stronger expressiveness and playability, and have higher added value and competitiveness.
3D printed toys taken in Jinqi Toy Store in District 1 of Yiwu International Trade City (photo taken on February 9, 2025). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Huang Zongzhi
"At present, our factory has more than 3,000 3D printing machines, with a daily output exceeding 100,000 pieces, and orders have been received by mid-2025." Zeng Hao said that this year, companies will expand investment in equipment procurement and new product research and development, and further explore the domestic market. Market demand.
AI technology empowers traditional trade, 3D printing accelerates product innovation, smart homes sell well in the global market, and new energy products lead the green trend... In Yiwu, the continuous research and development and iteration of new technologies and new products are promoting the small commodity market to high-end and intelligent Integration and internationalization are constantly moving forward.
At Yiwu International Trade City, the head of a shop showed off an AI smart wearable device that was sold overseas (photo taken on February 9, 2025). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Huang Zongzhi
At the same time, Yiwu's logistics network is also continuing to upgrade, the express delivery business volume is increasing year by year, China-Europe freight trains are constantly expanding, and multimodal transport is being cultivated at a faster pace, providing strong support for global trade.
Recently, the first "Yiwu-Tashkent" international express train in the Yangtze River Delta, full of 100 standard containers of goods such as auto parts, machinery and equipment, daily necessities, etc., drove out from the Yiwu West Railway Station. Through the digital docking of the waybill system, the customs clearance efficiency of the train has been greatly improved, and the operating time has been compressed by nearly half.
In January this year, Zhejiang China-Europe Express (Yi Xin Europe) launched a total of 306 trains, an increase of about 7% year-on-year, achieving a "good start". "In 2025, we will continue to improve the product system including fast trains, full-time schedule trains, railway- and domestic special trains, etc., to better serve customers' diverse needs." Yixinou Trade Services Group Co., Ltd. Strategic development Director He Kanwei said.
Human face: Spring comes to inspire people to become more excited
Update samples, receive customers, arrange delivery... As soon as the market opens, Chen Meijun, the owner of Litian Toys Store, was very busy. She said that during the Spring Festival holiday, customers kept asking for orders, and on the first day of the market opening, customers placed orders worth more than 200,000 yuan. This year, Litian Toys expects sales to grow by double digits.
"The vigorous market makes it impossible for me to be idle or slow down!" Chen Meijun has successively arranged the year-round plan. "I plan to go to Mexico in April and Kenya in June. We are not only sitting in the store waiting for customers, but also We must take the initiative to find customers and expand the market."
When people work hard, spring comes early, and work starts to sprint. In Yiwu, the vast majority of market operators strive to lay a solid foundation for achieving the annual goals with a sense of urgency.
The intelligent workshop of Yiwu Zhengtai Solar Technology Co., Ltd. battery factory, photographed on February 7, 2025. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Huang Zongzhi
At Yiwu Zhengtai Solar Energy Technology Co., Ltd., when the reporter met Long Hui, the company's head, he was holding a video conference with the company's headquarters and factory technicians to speed up the planning and promotion of technical transformation of high-power module and high-efficiency battery production lines to meet the needs of the company to meet the needs of the company's headquarters and factory technicians. New requirements from customers.
"In order to ensure that the production capacity does not decline after the holiday, we insulated the equipment before the Spring Festival holiday. After the equipment was debugged in the seventh day of the lunar month, the production will be full when the eighth day of the lunar month starts." Long Hui introduced.
Jin Hangyu, chairman of Zhejiang Hongyu Pharmaceutical Products Co., Ltd., is also ready to accumulate strength for this year's development. As a company with the main business of producing wound dressings, Hongyu Pharmaceutical has developed an "outdoor survival bag" that can provide assistance in extreme situations. After the product was launched in Europe and the United States, it gradually entered the high-end market, allowing companies to gain the right to price their products.
Workers are working in the production workshop of Zhejiang Hongyu Pharmaceutical Supplies Co., Ltd. (photo taken on February 7, 2025). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Huang Zongzhi
"We are optimistic about the overall development of the industry and expect companies to grow by more than 20% in overseas markets this year." Jin Hangyu said that companies will continue to maintain the intensity of R&D investment of about 5% of sales, while increasing the intensity of equipment renewal and technological transformation. , meet new opportunities and challenges.
Statistics from the Yiwu Economic and Information Department show that as of February 10, the resumption rate of enterprises above designated size included in the Zhejiang Provincial Monitoring Platform reached 93.6%, and the resumption rate was among the top in the province.
East of the fifth zone of the International Trade City, the construction of the sixth-generation market core project, the Global Digital Trade Center, is in full swing and is expected to be completed and put into operation in October this year.
"At present, there are more than 1,000 builders in the entire construction site. The work has not been suspended for one day during the Spring Festival holiday, and it will further increase to about 3,000 people." Jin Guoqing, head of the Global Digital Trade Center Engineering Project of the Mall Group, said that in the future, digital trade will be gathered here. New business forms such as service trade and cross-border e-commerce have further changed the traditional trade model.
Book: "Buy and sell globally" reveals potential
In 2024, Yiwu once again delivered a brilliant report card. The total value of imports and exports for the whole year reached 668.93 billion yuan, an increase of 18.2% year-on-year; of which, exports were 588.96 billion yuan, an increase of 17.7% year-on-year; imports were 79.97 billion yuan, an increase of 22.2% year-on-year.
Behind the books is the reform and innovation that has been worked hard for a long time. The relevant person in charge of the Yiwu Municipal Development and Reform Bureau said that since it was approved for the pilot of comprehensive international trade reform in 2011, Yiwu has successively undertaken more than 40 "national" reforms and more than 60 provincial reform pilots, in the trade system, logistics model, and market. Make breakthroughs in management and other aspects to form a batch of replicable experiences.
Over the past 10 years, Yiwu's first market procurement trade export volume has grown by 10.4% annually. In 2024, Yiwu exported 471.76 billion yuan through market procurement and trade, contributing 94.3% to local exports, and the vitality stimulated by reform continued to surge.
Merchants in Yiwu International Trade City display New Year banners collected at the door of the store (photo taken on February 9, 2025). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Huang Zongzhi
In addition to the continued consolidation of export advantages, the scale of imports is also expanding. Southeast Asian bird’s nest, European red wine, Japanese and Korean Japanese products... In the fifth district of the International Trade City, which mainly sells imported goods, you can buy all the good products from all over the world in one stop. Luo Yuan, deputy general manager of the Fifth Branch of the International Trade City of Mall Group, introduced that after more than 10 years of cultivation, the scale of the five districts has expanded from more than 20,000 square meters and dozens of business owners to 100,000 square meters and 173 market operators. , providing consumers with about 150,000 imported goods.
Now, Yiwu is ushering in an important opportunity for a new round of development. In December 2024, the State Council replied with the same message that Ukraine launched a new round of comprehensive international trade reform, helping Yiwu to accelerate the problem of "buy the world" and iteratively deepen it in "selling the world".
"On December 25 last year, Yiwu quickly implemented the first measure of this round of reform. The first order of Yiwu's import trade innovation and development pilot was implemented in Yiwu International Trade City." Zhu Xiaotang, deputy director of Yiwu Municipal Bureau of Commerce, said that relying on full-process digitalization The joint regulatory platform can provide one-stop service for testing and certification on the list for the products on the list, implement convenient customs clearance, and strive to form a new model that is conducive to expanding imports and ensuring controllable risks.
Actively improve market procurement trade methods, promote innovative development of import trade, enhance the functions of trade platforms, and promote innovative models such as "assembly and stocking" and "inspection first and then shipment"... On February 6, the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government held a meeting in Yiwu A mobilization and deployment meeting for deepening the comprehensive reform of international trade in Yiwu and the construction of the China-Europe Express Assemblies Center will be refined and deployed the "timetable" and "roadmap" for a new round of reforms.
Looking at the overall situation from a corner. Faced with many uncertain factors, the "world supermarket" that connects more than 20 industrial clusters and 2.1 million small and medium-sized enterprises across the country, steadily showing the endogenous driving force, resilience and potential of China's strong development.
