Firms in high gear for year-end sales

Customs officials inspect samples of products bound for export at Liaoning Creative Arts and Crafts Co Ltd in Shenyang, Liaoning province, last week. (CHINA DAILY)

With Christmas and year-end sales approaching in many Western countries, Chinese manufacturers are ramping up shipments to these markets via both air cargo and maritime container services, while experiencing a surge in sales on cross-border e-commerce platforms.

December and January are peak shopping seasons in Europe and the United States, and China's cross-border e-commerce exports to these markets — especially Christmas-themed products and small electronic products — have shown strong growth in recent weeks.

Christmas-themed products encompass a wide range of festive items that are popular during the holiday season. These include Christmas decorations like artificial trees, ornaments and lights, as well as figurines of Santa, reindeer and snowmen. They also cover gifts, Christmas cards, specialty food items and holiday-themed apparel such as sweaters and Santa hats.

To meet the soaring demand from Chinese exporters shipping Christmas-themed goods and other high-value items ordered through cross-border e-commerce platforms to global markets, Nanjing Lukou International Airport, located in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu province, boosted its freighter routes by adding 48 extra flights between November and December.

Customs authorities at the airport supervised foreign trade cargo volume of 67,200 metric tons during the January-November period, a year-on-year increase of 29.3 percent. Among this, exports of cross-border e-commerce goods amounted to 18,000 tons, jumping 51.8 percent on a yearly basis, statistics from Nanjing Customs show.

Jiangsu Changxin Weaving Co Ltd, a Changzhou, Jiangsu province-based textile manufacturer, has been shipping about 10 containers abroad daily via containerships over the past two weeks.

In addition to exporting Christmas-themed products, such as pillows, socks, blankets and carpets, the Chinese company has introduced Christmas tree sets with innovative designs this year to enhance the competitiveness of its products in overseas markets.

"In the past, our exported Christmas products were relatively simple and had low added value. However, this year, we established a dedicated design team for Christmas items. From traditional Santa Claus and reindeer designs to modern cartoon styles, we now offer a diverse range of products that are popular in many countries," said Chen Lin, head of the export unit at the company.

Liaoning Creative Arts and Crafts Co Ltd, a handicrafts manufacturer in Shenyang, capital of Northeast China's Liaoning province, secured over 4 million yuan ($549,018) worth of export orders to the US this year, mainly for various handicrafts made from bamboo, wood and grass weaving.

Demand for Christmas and other holiday decorations has been strong in the second half of this year, said Xie Pengfei, the company's general manager.

Shenyang Customs has supervised the export of Christmas-themed products, primarily made of bamboo, wood, rattan and grass weaving within its Customs territory in the first 11 months of this year, amounting to 350 million yuan, with exports covering 50 countries, including the US, Mexico, the United Kingdom and Australia.

"Instead of sea and air transportation, some Christmas goods bound for Europe can be exported via China-Europe freight train services," Xie said.