Decorative trees, lights find ways to foreign markets despite pandemic

Christmas goods suppliers in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, experienced a shipping season earlier than usual in recent months, as overseas clients requested orders to arrive sooner than in the past, due to inventory and logistics chain risks.

Yiwu is the world"s largest distribution center for Christmas products like tree decor, Yuletide clothing, festive lights and packaging, with two-thirds of the world"s goods in this category coming from the county-level city.

Although August was typically the busiest month for selling Christmas products to global markets in past years, many popular products have already been sold out, said Su Xueqin, a Christmas goods supplier at Yiwu International Trade Market.

"Pushed by costly ocean shipping container prices and fear of a disrupted supply chain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many overseas clients started to place their orders as early as February and March. Therefore, the peak purchasing season for Christmas goods has come to an end ahead of schedule compared with earlier years," Su said.

Apart from Yiwu, major export ports handling Christmas supplies such as Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, Zhejiang province, also saw an export peak period for Christmas supplies since May this year, said Meng Yuefeng, an official at Cixi Customs, a branch of Ningbo Customs.

While shortages of stevedores, terminal congestion and suspension of voyages continue to occur in many overseas markets, turnover efficiency of ships has dropped, and the balance between supply and demand has been seriously disturbed, Meng said.