A financial tsunami originating from the U.S. subprime crisis is sweeping across the globe, significantly impacting the "Made in China" Christmas business opportunities.
Christmas trees, Santa Claus figures, Christmas photo frames... these dazzling Christmas decorations lie quietly in Mr. Liu's online store, uncertain of their future. Their owner, Mr. Liu, idly watches DVDs while at this time of year, they would usually be neatly arranged inside shipping containers on freighters sailing to the other side of the ocean.
Shenzhen
Some gift enterprises see profits fall by half
Shenzhen, with annual sales revenue of 17 billion yuan and exports of 1 billion USD from more than 2,000 craft and gift manufacturing companies, is known as the "World Christmas Gift Manufacturing Base." The Shenzhen Arts and Crafts Gift Association, established in 2002, has a deep understanding of the current profit pressures faced by arts and crafts gift enterprises.
Christmas gift exhibitors have decreased by 20％
"In previous years, Thanksgiving and Christmas brought great joy to the industry, but this year's situation is clearly different," Mr. Liu informed reporters. Orders are down significantly this year, with factories reducing staff by about 20%. He struggles to keep his store running while passing the time chatting with business friends and watching DVDs. It’s estimated that among peers, one-third make money, one-third break even, and one-third lose money.
Bai Zhao products exhibition organizers informed reporters that this year, exhibitors in the toy, craft, and gift industries have sharply decreased compared to last year. According to incomplete statistics, this once-hot exhibitor industry has reduced participating enterprises by 20% this year. "To some extent, the Yiwu Fair reflects the current state of the entire industry," the organizer indicated.
Government
Creating training programs to help expand markets
Although the meeting between Santa Claus and "Made in China" has been somewhat complicated, during interviews, many companies were found to be making efforts to save themselves, hoping to survive the difficult "winter" and welcome the next "dawn". "Some clever merchants around me have abandoned the originally dominant European and American markets and turned to other regions, operating quite successfully," Mr. Liu admires such forward-thinking peers.
In addition, the local government has introduced a comprehensive plan with rewards amounting to 2 billion yuan, encouraging enterprises to innovate independently, transitioning from low-value-added products to high-value-added ones.
Simultaneously, to facilitate cooperation with non-English-speaking countries, relevant parties have also provided free second language training classes in Korean, Japanese, Arabic, etc., specifically for market operators.