Yiwu was founded as Wushang County in 222 BCE, right before the Qin dynasty. It was renamed Yiwu County in 624 CE. Trade has been historically important in Yiwu since the surrounding area has little arable soil. Even before 1600s, Yiwu men would carry sewing needles, threads, sugar chunks and other small commodities in their bamboo baskets, using a shoulder-pole and travel to surrounding rural villages in exchange for chicken feathers. Chicken feathers could be either used as a fertilizer for their own lands or made into feather dusters for exporting. This “Sugar-For-Chicken Feathers” tradition had become part of Yiwu culture. As the trading population grew larger, the earliest wholesale markets emerged in Yiwu around 1700s. After the founding of People’s Republic of China in 1949, the free market was once considered capitalistic and hence officially suppressed, forcing Yiwu people to continue their trade secretly. It was only after Deng Xiaoping’s economic reform in 1978 did the Yiwu market thrive again, becoming one of the first free marketplaces in PRC’s history. The cement boards over a stinky ditch nearby Huqingmen street, set up by the local government as the first marketplace in 1982, later became the present day Yiwu International Trade Mart after 27 years of development. In May 1988 the former Yiwu County was upgraded to a county-level city. In 1995 Yiwu ranked the 47th among China’s 100 most powerful counties/cities regarding comprehensive economic strength and in the same year listed as Zhejiang’s sole city among the nation’s experimental counties/cities of comprehensive reform. In 2001 Yiwu’s overall economy ranked 19th of all counties (cities) of China.
The city of Yiwu is famous for the biggest wholesale market, and is also known as China Commodity City (CCC). The most important international economic authorities agree in defining Yiwu as the “Largest small commodity wholesale market in the world”. Perhaps it is more appropriate to defineYiwu as a vast permanent fair instead of a traditional wholesale market. Defined also “a paradise for shoppers”, Yiwu China Commodity City occupies an area of 4.3 million square meters with 62,000 booths inside. 100,000 suppliers show 400,000 kinds of products almost every day from 09:00 am to 05:00 pm (except the period of Chinese Spring Festival). 65% of these products (of about 2000 different categories) are exported to over 215 countries and regions. For 14 consecutive years the market turnover has ranked the first among all the biggest special markets throughout the China. China Commodities City is also the only market awarded (by the State Bureau of Quality Supervision and State Administration of Inspection and Quarantine) with the honorary title of “high quality, keeping faith”. Yiwu Market is also the only five stars market in Zhejiang Province (allotted by Zhejiang Administration for Industry and Commerce).
District 1 of International Trade Mart The International Trade Mart occupies a building area of 340,000 sqm with and is divided into five main business areas: subject of the market, shopping center, manufacturer outlet center, catering center and warehousing center. There are about 9000 booths and more than 10500 business entities in total. The first floor deals in flowers and toys, the 2nd floor for jewelry, on the 3rd floor there are arts & crafts, on the 4th floor there are the manufacturer outlet center and in the east subsidiary building there are the sourcing center of foreign trade companies.
District 2 of International Trade Mart The second district (District F & G) occupies over 600,000 sqm building area, above 8000 booths and the business entities are more than 10,000. The first floor is dedicated to suitcases & bags, umbrellas and raincoat; the second floor is occupied from hardware tools & fittings, electrical products, locks and vehicles; the third floor is for kitchenware & sanitary ware, electronic instruments & equipments, small home appliances, telecom facilities, watches & clocks; the fourth floor is for manufacturer outlet center and other high-class business area such as HK Hall, Korea Hall, Sichuan Hall; on the fifth floor, there is sourcing & service center of foreign trade; on the floor 2-3 of the central hall, there are tourism & shopping center and Historical Museum of CCC (China Commodity City).
District 3 of International Trade Mart The District 3 of International Trade City (District H) has 460,000 sqm building area, over 6000 standard booths of 14 sqm on floor 1-3, more than 600 booths of 80-100 sqm on floor 4-5 and manufacturer outlet center on the fourth floor. The industries in the market cover cultural products, sports products, cosmetics, eyeglasses, zippers, buttons and apparel accessories etc. The market was equipped with central air conditioners, broadband system, Web TV, data center and firefighting & security monitoring center.
District 4 of International Trade Mart The District 4 of International Trade City District occupies a building area of 560 thousand sqm. The functioning area is 1.739 million sqm, with over 14000 booths in the market. In this area there are the Daily Necessities, Knitting& Cotton Articles, (including hats, bra, underwear, scarves, gloves and other needle cotton fabrics ), footwear, cable (including the belt), knitwear (hosiery), neckties, towers, wool, lace and other industries.
Named YIWU A, located in China, and belongs to China Post, China.
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Yiwu is 1.5 hours far away from Shanghai… Both English and Other language works here.. Yiwu is a city of Zhejiang Province near the central eastern coast of China. The city is famous for its small commodity trade and vibrant free markets and is a regional tourist destination.
