Intelligent products are emerging as a new growth point for Yiwu's foreign trade, with inquiries, reorders and shipments staying strong into October, CCTV reported on October 21. As the world's largest Christmas-goods sourcing hub, Yiwu ships to over 170 countries and regions across more than 20,000 categories; this year, thanks to a September U.S.–China consensus on $30 billion in reciprocal tariff cuts, American buyers' appetite recovered and reordering continued.
Merchants say products with snow-spray and music functions sold nearly 100,000 sets in 2026. New AI-themed items debuted in Yiwu: AI Christmas trees, AI Santas, palm-sized AI recording cards, starry-sky lamps, flapping bionic butterflies and dancing robots. A Kenyan buyer noted the programmable novelty's quality drew his interest; one AI product already had four to five thousand units pre-ordered.
An operator at the Global Digital Trade Center said AI glasses were hot in 2026, with daily shipments topping 100 units and customer growth over 30% in the first three quarters. Yiwu Customs data show January–August foreign-trade exports of 548.85 billion yuan, up 12.8%, with Christmas-goods exports to Latin America, the EU and ASEAN reaching 3.23 billion yuan, 67.9% of the city's Christmas-goods total.
The shift from low-price volume to creative, functional value is helping small commodities capture added value in overseas markets.
Source: CCTV
