The 600,000-square-metre China Commodity City in Yiwu city, often referred to as “Walmart on steroids”, is one of the world’s largest wholesale markets.
Traders from the Middle East, Russia and Africa come to the market in eastern Zhejiang province to browse a staggering array of products from umbrellas to buttons to refrigerator magnets commemorating every city in the world – many made in one of the small factories dotted around the city’s fringe.
But as the holiday season approaches, Guo Wei, factory manager at China Zhongsheng Crafts Co, which makes plastic Christmas trees for export to the US, the UK, Australia and Japan, is struggling to cope. For some products, the company is even selling below cost.