Gifts / Sports & Toys

Every year there are "net celebrities" in exports

According to the website of the Ministry of Commerce, my country's imports and exports in the first four months of 2021 have increased by 28.5% year-on-year, with an impressive growth rate. Exports of automobiles and toys have grown rapidly. Among them, the toy export in April this year was 19.59 billion yuan, and the cumulative toy export from January to April was 68.72 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 59.0%.

After interviewing toy export companies and related industry associations in Zhejiang, Guangdong and other places, a reporter from China Trade News learned that the toy export situation this year is relatively good, although traditional problems such as rising raw material prices, more OEMs, and limited profits have occurred during the epidemic. It still exists, but the progress of the e-commerce transformation of Chinese toy companies has made toy foreign trade companies under the epidemic not only “stabilize” their livelihoods and “stabilize” foreign trade, but also highlight the overall rapid growth of the industry and foreign trade. contribution.

Liu Yanfang, secretary general of the Shenzhen Toy Industry Association, said in an interview with a reporter from China Trade News that the export situation of the toy industry is indeed better than last year. Due to the prevention and control of the epidemic, people have been isolated at home for a long time and there is a greater demand for toys. Toys such as puzzles are selling well, and toys in stock in some foreign regions have been sold out.

"From January to April, toy exports grew rapidly year-on-year, which not only reflects China’s current hot toy export situation, but is also related to the increase in raw material prices. After the price of raw materials rises, the price of finished products also rises, thereby increasing the value of goods. Relatively speaking, the quantity of goods is increased. The growth rate is not as obvious as the value of goods. Therefore, by combining the volume and value of goods, the complete growth can be seen more.” Liu Yanfang analyzed.

Yunhe County, Zhejiang Province, is a well-known wooden toy industry gathering area in China. Because of the high forest coverage, the local area had a raw material advantage in the early development of the wooden toy industry. Today, part of the local wooden toy raw materials are imported. Zhejiang Xinyun Wood Industry Group Co., Ltd. is a leading enterprise in the wooden toy industry in Yunhe County. The general manager of the company, Li Jingcheng, said, “This year the company’s export situation is better than in previous years, and the company has also received policy support.”

The epidemic has accelerated the pace of transformation of the toy industry

Jinmao Arts & Crafts Co., Ltd. is a toy foundry company in Yunhe County. Although it has little self-export business, it has received more foreign trade OEM orders this year. The Yiwu Toy Industry Association of Zhejiang Province also revealed that the export situation of local toy companies this year is better than last year, but they are still dominated by OEMs, with only a few self-operated brands.

These problems reported by the industry will not be effectively solved with the rapid growth of toy exports during the epidemic, and continuous efforts are still needed. However, the epidemic has significantly accelerated the pace of e-commerce transformation in the toy industry. Liu Yanfang has a deep understanding of this.

"Under the better overall situation, different companies still face different situations. Shenzhen has local OEM and self-operated foreign trade toy companies. In the past, 70 to 80% were OEMs. In recent years, the industry has shifted, and some toys Enterprises migrate to the mainland and Southeast Asia.” Liu Yanfang said that in the past, foreign trade shipments were large and stable, but now foreign trade orders tend to be smaller.

In order to adapt to changes in the situation, Liu Yanfang's association is trying to cooperate with e-commerce platforms to provide e-commerce business training to companies. After the event, some companies began to try to enter the e-commerce platform. These early efforts have laid the foundation for e-commerce to make efforts during the epidemic. "Due to the epidemic, it is difficult for products to be demonstrated and sold offline, but with the help of e-commerce, the proportion of online sales by companies has increased significantly during the epidemic." Liu Yanfang told reporters that Shenzhen toy companies are not the only way to participate in e-commerce business. Yes, both companies are engaged in e-commerce business themselves, and companies are also involved in a certain link in the e-commerce business chain of other market players. Various transformation methods are very flexible.

Although cross-border e-commerce is good, it cannot be entered blindly. "Many companies have heard that cross-border e-commerce is popular and they have invested in it. This is not appropriate. Just like live broadcast is very popular, not all companies that enter the live broadcast field can succeed. In addition to seeing explosive products, they must also consider product backlogs. Risk." Liu Yanfang said.

Regarding the e-commerce transformation of toy export companies, Liu Yanfang suggested that companies must understand and familiarize themselves with the market, platforms and other requirements for e-commerce business, especially intellectual property rules, and they should do their homework before launching e-commerce business. "For example, for the same IPR infringement recourse, although offline recourse is difficult, online infringement recourse is relatively simple. E-commerce platforms can use the method of banning to combat infringements. If companies treat these intellectual property rules of e-commerce platforms If you are not familiar with it, you may encounter such risks."