Toy industry explores emerging markets and export situation begins to improve

Guangzhou, March 12, Xinhuanet (Chen Mengxing) "China's toy exports have come out of the trough, but still need to face challenges." Li Zhuoming, executive vice president of the Guangdong Toy Association, said in an interview that due to the global economic recovery, toy exports in 2010 are expected to be better than in 2009, and toy domestic sales and expansion of foreign emerging markets have become new ways for toy companies to find profits. According to statistics from China Customs, due to the impact of the financial crisis, China's toy exports in 2009 were 19.83 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 22.46%; Guangdong's toy exports were 12.754 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 25.29%. Guangzhou, March 12, Xinhuanet (Chen Mengxing) "China's toy exports have come out of the trough, but still need to face challenges." Li Zhuoming, executive vice president of the Guangdong Toy Association, said in an interview that due to the global economic recovery, toy exports in 2010 are expected to be better than in 2009, and toy domestic sales and expansion of foreign emerging markets have become new ways for toy companies to find profits. According to Chinese customs statistics, due to the impact of the financial crisis, China's toy exports in 2009 were US$19.83 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 22.46%; Guangdong's toy exports were US$12.754 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 25.29%.

Li Zhuoming said that the current exports to ASEAN and the Middle East have increased by 54.7% and 8% respectively, and the development of emerging markets has achieved results. Last year, the total output value of the toy industry was 106.62 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 20.9%; domestic sales increased by 10% to 15%. Many toy companies that originally only exported believed that there was great potential for domestic sales and began to seek ways to sell domestically. It is reported that some toy companies in Shantou, Guangdong have set up domestic sales companies to develop the domestic toy market.

It is understood that China's toy exports have long been dominated by processing trade, with meager profits in the industrial chain and a high degree of dependence on the world toy market. The financial crisis has caused a sharp decline in purchasing power in major toy consumer markets such as Europe and the United States, bringing unprecedented difficulties to China's toy exports. Therefore, many toy companies have begun to try to sponsor cartoons and strive for the authorization of cartoon derivatives. In 2009, the processing trade of Guangdong's toy industry decreased by 18%, but the independent brands increased by 32%.

Li Zhuoming said that toy companies still need to deal with the challenges of rising production costs and certification standards, and production costs will further hinder the development of export companies. At present, the rising trend of raw material prices is already very obvious, especially for plastics, cloth, paper, etc. Among them, the price of plastics has increased by more than 30% from the end of last year to now, and the price of paper has increased by 30%-50%. After the difficulty in recruiting workers, the labor cost has a significant upward pressure, which has also become a challenge that toy manufacturers need to face.

According to Zou Yuming, project manager of the Guangdong Toy Association, in addition to the increase in production costs, toy manufacturers also have to face the test of different certification standards. Since foreign certification standards are not unified, European and American countries have raised the certification standards for toy products, which has brought considerable challenges to the production and sales of toy manufacturers. However, strict requirements for product quality also allow Chinese toy manufacturers to calmly deal with product standards set by emerging markets.

The recovery of the toy industry is also reflected in the increase in the number of manufacturers participating in toy exhibitions this year. According to reports, the 22nd Guangzhou International Toy and Model Exhibition held at the Guangzhou Poly World Trade Expo Center this year provided 1,800 booths, which is 100 times more than last year. Currently, there are 651 companies participating in the exhibition.