Beads are seen on display at wholesaler Xinlilai Beads Accessories in Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang Province on Monday. Photo: Chi Jingyi/GT

India is showing increasing interest in goods from Yiwu, a commodity paradise in East China's Zhejiang Province, which offers high-quality products at low prices.

Analysts said that Yiwu-made goods are attractive to the world.

Zhou Qing, manager of the Byland Star Hotel in Yiwu, said that more clients have come from India in the past two years.

"With more than 10 Indian restaurants near the hotel, the block has become a 'little India.' Indian guests account for 80 percent of the total during peak season," Zhou told the Global Times on Monday.

Yang Yang, founder of Linhai Chaosheng Photoelectric Co, which makes decorative lights for festivals, said that India is one of the fastest-growing markets for Yiwu goods, together with Turkey and countries in Africa and South America.

"The number of businessmen from India, Russia, Arab countries and Africa has increased dramatically in recent years, with many obtaining long-term residence visas," Zhu Liming, an officer at the Yiwu city government, told the Global Times on Monday.

"Even in the context of a global economic downturn, businesses will choose the most competitive products. Made in Yiwu, or made in China, has shifted to high-quality products. Mature production lines and mass production enable enterprises to minimize costs, making Yiwu goods fine and cheap," Zhou Xuezhi, a research fellow of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

From January to September, 629 foreign companies were established in Yiwu, with a total investment of $92.35 million, up 51.62 percent on a yearly basis, according to data the Yiwu commerce office sent to the Global Times on Monday.

The Yiwu Ever Import & Export Co, which was established by an Indian national surnamed Raghu in July 2017, is an example of a foreign-owned company.

An employee at the company told the Global Times that the company specializes in cargo transportation and customs clearance, handling shipments from China to India. Every week, six tons of goods are transported to India by air and two to three containers are sent by sea.

However, a trade company manager who declined to be named mentioned that India is also imposing elevated tariffs on Chinese exports following the US, resulting in restrictions on exports to India. As a result, many Indian buyers are turning to Southeast Asia to source imports, which actually came from Yiwu.


Newspaper headline: India gains interest in Yiwu goods