On September 18, Jinhua News reported that multiple shops in Yiwu's Global Digital Trade Center are selling AI companion toys powered by the Doubao large model, attracting tourists and buyers. The toys offer emotional soothing, voice chat and story-telling, serving both children's early education and adults' emotional companionship.
Leveraging Yiwu's deep small-commodity supply chain, merchants quickly embed large-model technology into plush toys. AI companion toys carry a noticeably higher unit price than ordinary plush toys, and export orders keep growing, with products shipping to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
The core advantage of the "Yiwu model" is the叠加 (combination) of mature traditional export channels and low barriers to accessing large-model technology, letting even small merchants rapidly launch AI toy products and reach global buyers. The trend also spotlights a deeper contradiction—most AI toys still lean entertainment-heavy with weak practical function—as the sector awaits more standardized development.
Together with Beijing's "AI + consumption" buzz, where AI toys became foreign tourists' "China trip souvenirs," the category shows how lightweight AI consumer products are becoming a new export growth point out of Yiwu.
Source: Jinhua News / Toutiao
