Every October, small umbrellas with chinoiserie designs are placed neatly on the shelves of Spanish convenience stores. Before the onset of the rainy season along the Mediterranean coast, "Oriental umbrellas" from the other end of the Eurasian continent become popular.
In eastern China's Yiwu, Janey Zhang's umbrella shop is bustling. Merchants from all over the world are purchasing umbrellas. When it comes to the popularization of her products, Janey said having good quality products is essential, as well as on-time delivery.
Her products are mostly shipped to countries along the Belt and Roadthrough China-Europe freight trains. "Thanks to the trains, umbrellas usually arrive at their destination within 16 to 18 days. The freightage not only reduces storage costs but also greatly saves logistics time," she said.
As the biggest "small commodity market" in China, Yiwu has brought increasing opportunities for the development of the China-Europe freight trains. According to customs data, in 2018, Yiwu Customs moved 23,000 TEUs of China-Europe freight trains, totaling 178,000 tons, up 62.8 percent and 81.7 percent, respectively.
"Yiwu customs has shortened clearance time and strengthened the protection of containers by adopting the 'paperless' customs clearance in order to facilitate the export via China-Europe trains," Yiwu customs staff told reporters.
Yiwu's exports reached 252.156 billion yuan (about 37.6 billion US dollars) in 2018, up 985.02 percent from 2011, according to the Yiwu Commerce Bureau. Exports to countries along the Belt and Road totaled 124.293 billion yuan, up 6.01 percent year-on-year.
"The China-Europe freight train service will further extend the industrial chain and become a comprehensive service platform for the integrated development of finance, customs clearance and distribution home and abroad, thus further promoting the opening of the market," an official with Yiwu Municipal Commerce Bureau said.
During her 20 years in business, her umbrellas have been exported to more than 100 countries and regions around the world. She identified that her success was due in large part to the development of export trade. "I feel warm even if I sign a small order," she said.
