Zhejiang Radio & Television (China Blue News) reports that a crossover handmade stationery item called 'Gubi' is rapidly trending in Yiwu. Without needle, thread or glue, a user picks a pen barrel and strings acrylic beads and cute figurines to make a one-of-a-kind pen in just three to five minutes, with charms swappable to match outfits or moods.
The playful, personalized format has turned a small commodity into a new viral category. Accessory boxes of a dozen assorted styles sell more than 1,000 units a day, and buyers from outside the city travel specially to Yiwu to source and restock. Overseas orders now reach Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States.
A Yiwu market merchant noted that, after hole-punch bags and shoes proved beads could enter any industry, the second application was stationery — every bead is designed, produced and sold in-house, with more than 1,000 new designs rolled out each quarter, realizing a cross-border innovation of jewelry and stationery.
