With 2022 World Cup approaching, China sells goods
Al-Rihla, the official Adidas match ball for the FIFA World Cup Qatar, is pictured in Doha, Qatar on March 30, 2022. PHOTO VCG With the 2022 FIFA World Cup approaching, Chinese companies are rushing to fill their shipping containers with goods ranging from soccer balls and toys to virtual reality helmets for the event, which will be held in Qatar in November and December.
The tournament, held every four years, has boosted the growth of the global sports economy by creating business opportunities for export-oriented companies. Since April, orders for products related to the grand event, which is scheduled to be held from Nov 20 to Dec 18, flowed into Yiwu, Zhejiang province, the world's largest small-commodity distribution center, according to local exporters.
The Yiwu Sporting Goods Association estimated that the city accounts for about 70 percent of the World Cup's peripheral goods market this year, providing items from whistles to themed mugs and pillows.
We are in the final stage of exporting World Cup-related soccer balls. Wu Xiaoming, the board chairman of Yiwu Aokai Sports Goods Co, said that all the goods will be shipped to Qatar by the end of the month.
He said the third quarter is usually a quiet period for the city for exports of small commodities, but the World Cup turned it into a busy season this year. The soccer ball exports went up 70 percent year-on-year between July and September.
Xianchun, a sales manager at Yiwu Jinzun Stationery Co, said her overseas orders, mostly placed by clients in the Netherlands, Germany and the Republic of Korea, surged nearly 50 percent year-on-year in the third quarter.
Even though the COVID 19 pandemic affected retail and factory operations in Yiwu in early August, this has pushed exporters in the Yiwu International Trade Market to increase their online sales, said Chen, who said her company has completed all the orders related to the World Cup.
Many customers have contacted us online. She said that product materials and styles can be shown to them through livestreaming. Our workload has gone up, sales went up and demand continues to be strong in overseas. According to customs data, the city's exports to Spain increased by 95.8 percent year-on-year, to Argentina by 67.2 percent and to Brazil by 56.7 percent. Three nations are sending teams to Qatar.
The city opened the Qatar World Cup shipping line in mid-September and was eager to ship scarves, trumpets, stickers and other sports products to Qatar as soon as possible. Its products can be shipped within 20 to 25 days from the Ningbo-Zhoushan and Shanghai ports.
China's exports of liquid crystal display televisions increased by 16.8 percent year-on-year to 61.13 million units in the first eight months of 2022, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.