City of reform: Yiwu in 40 years
A town hidden in the hills in eastern China became the world's trade capital of small commodities, with flourishing e-commerce and an expanding international market.
By Zhang Lulu
A new generation of Yiwu traders
Ye Peng makes and sells high-quality handmade shoes. [Photo by Sun Tao/China SCIO]
Unlike the previous generation Yiwu traders who began in makeshift booths, Ye Peng launched his store in the online marketplace.
Ye is a Yiwu native, whose parents sold shoes. After college in nearby Hangzhou and a brief stint at a state-owned company, Ye returned to his hometown and took up the family trade.
His impetus was a drive by the city to boost e-commerce in 2012, which has seen tremendous growth since. Just last year, the city reported an e-commerce trade volume of 222 billion yuan, 25 percent more than 2016.
Ye has a storefront in the Yiwu International Trade City — at a lavish 425 square meters, eight times the size of his first booth. His annual sales made similar leaps, from 2 million yuan in 2012 to 14 million yuan today. He says 80 to 90 percent of his trades are conducted online.