Christmas culture has become more and more influential

China's holiday jewelry industry is offsetting the effects of the economic downturn in Europe and the United States by boosting domestic sales. In China, Christmas decorations are increasingly becoming the marketing tools that retailers have adopted.

China's holiday jewelry industry is offsetting the effects of the economic downturn in Europe and the United States by boosting domestic sales. In China, Christmas decorations are increasingly becoming the marketing tools that retailers have adopted.

Although China's manufacturing activity is shrinking for the first time in nearly three years, China's Christmas decoration industry has enjoyed strong sales while new companies are racing to enter the industry.

Yiwu, one of the manufacturing centers in Zhejiang Province, claims to be the capital of the world's Christmas ornaments. Here, the entire industry's exports grew by about 10%, and some manufacturers reported that this year is their most business-year ever. In the past three years, the number of Christmas ornament manufacturers in Yiwu has soared from 80 to 600.

"Christmas is like the Chinese New Year: Even poor people must celebrate," said Chen Jinlin, secretary general of the Yiwu Christmas Goods Industry Association. “Hotels, kindergartens, schools, supermarkets, they all have Christmas decorations.

"As the adults grow up after 80 and 90, the (Christmas) culture is having more and more influence."

According to Zhang Lanfang of Yihang Christmas Gift Factory, this year’s production season is extremely busy. She could not find time to “drink a cup of tea”.

"The financial crisis has no effect on my sales," said Ms. Zhang.

However, as export margins are affected by increased competition and appreciation of the currency, businessmen like Gong Yuequan are emphasizing domestic sales and innovation.

Gong Yuequan is the chairman of Zhejiang Leide Arts & Crafts Co., Ltd. He said that compared with foreigners, domestic buyers want to buy more expensive Christmas items, and therefore more expensive, because Christmas items are often used as shopping malls, restaurants, hotels and office building marketing tools.

As Yiwu is facing labor shortages, Goodrich is outsourcing basic manufacturing to small workshops and hiring designers to create more innovative products, many of which incorporate Eastern and Western elements, including one wearing traditional brocade (on top Santa Claus statue of the Chinese landlord image of holly leaf embroidery, as well as a six-meter-high tree, can be decorated with ornaments and gifts as a Christmas tree, and then can be decorated with ribbons and bird cages to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year.

"The domestic market is more profitable," Gong Yuequan added. “Foreigners know quite a lot about how much these things should cost, but domestic customers just started celebrating Christmas and they have no concept.”