A model (right) wearing a facekini swimsuit featuring blue-and-white porcelain and embroidery is pictured at a beach resort in Qingdao city, East China's Shandong Province on Wednesday. Photo: IC

With rising temperatures across the Northern Hemisphere, merchants in Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang Province, are seeing a surge in bulk domestic and export orders for sun protection products, ranging from "facekinis" to clothes, the Global Times learned, underscoring the country's manufacturing prowess.  

Several merchants in Yiwu told the Global Times on Wednesday that Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia are the sources of many orders, while orders from the US and Europe are falling. Cooling sleeves and sun hats are favored by customers in Europe and the US, while facekinis and sun protection masks are popular in Japan and South Korea.

In China, buyers from coastal regions are placing more orders, with growing requirements for both the appearances  and technological content of sun protection products.

In the Yiwu International Trade City in Zhejiang, the number of vendors selling sun protection products has increased by nearly 40 percent this year, news website Cailian Press reported on Wednesday.

Sales of sun-protective clothing, the top-selling item, is up 36 percent in terms of orders and 115 percent in search volumes. 

Sales of "facekinis," or full-face masks with holes for the wearer's eyes and nose, have surged, with the number of shops and orders up 26 percent and 33 percent, respectively.

The sun protection market is growing at an annual rate of 9.4 percent, expanding from billions of yuan toward hundreds of billions of yuan, largely thanks to the innovation ability and cost advantage of factories in Yiwu, which is known as China's manufacturing showroom.

For example, the latest version of the hit product "facekini" equips with supportive boning to protect makeup and hyaluronic acid, which is beneficial for skincare, thus making it more attractive for women consumers.

While prices have remained the same, this year's sun protection products have better functions and more stylish designs, merchants from Yiwu  told the Global Times. For example, cooling sleeves have evolved into dozens of styles, including versions with exposed fingers for smartphone use and wrist openings for wearing fitness watches during outdoor activities.

Manufacturers in Yiwu also excel in mass production. For example, a merchant in Yiwu told China Central Television that the company's four production lines are able to produce 40,000 to 50,000 facekinis per day, and its sales have jumped nearly 30 percent from last year.

The surge in sun protection products is also due to changing lifestyles, where more Chinese youngsters are embracing outdoor activities. 

"In recent years, enthusiasm for travel during holiday periods has surged. For instance, during the May Day and Dragon Boat Festival holidays, many people engaged in outdoor activities, making sun protection a priority," Wang Jinwei, a professor at the School of Tourism Sciences at Beijing International Studies University, told the Global Times onWednesday.

Awareness of sun protection and skincare is rising, and UV protection is now seen as a year-round necessity rather than just a summer concern, according to Wang.

China's sun protection clothing market was valued at 45.9 billion yuan ($6.33 billion) in 2016, increasing to 61.1 billion yuan in 2021, and it is projected to hit 95.8 billion yuan by 2026.