Middlemen and gift shoppers flocked to Zhejiang Province’s Yiwu Small Commodities Market, where consumers can find everything from kitchenware to Christmas decorations to low-cost electronic toys, China Daily reported.
Yiwu Small Commodities Market is often recognized as the world's largest seller of mass-manufactured retail shop goods.
Retailers selling electronic goods and gadgets such as Fan Yueqiang, the owner of a store that sells remote-controlled balloon sharks, said that his products were a big hit among Middle Eastern and Indian clients.
"I heard some people say Christmas sales was not good this year in Yiwu. This is not the case for me. The sharks brought me 15 percent more profits than last year," Fan shared in an interview with China Daily.
Cheap prices and a huge variety of retail goods are two of Yiwu's biggest draws especially to middlemen who operate businesses outside the commodity market. It's where they can get products to sell for a relatively low total cost.
"People are looking for holiday presents that are more cost-efficient," said Pradeep Mannu Dadlani, an Indian merchant and frequent buyer of Yiwu products. Like Fan, he bought low-cost electronic toys to meet demand.
"Electronic toys might be the new darling for Christmas purchases because most of my clients, be they in South America or the Middle East, love these things," said Pradeep.
"Some might cut or simplify holiday decorations, but most people will not skip giving children presents," he added.
Some storeowners in Yiwu, however, don't share the good fortune. Yang Sumei, who sells Christmas-themed stuffed toys and Christmas hats, reports up to 10 percent of decline in sales. To compensate, Yiwu plans to expand into electronics.
"Next year, I might change some of my goods into things with technology in them. Some of them sold really well," Yang said.