Yiwu: world's largest small commodity wholesale market keen to invite big Indian business names

NEW DELHI: Yiwu, world’s biggest small commodity wholesale market and with deep bonds with Indian traders is now keen to invite big names in Indian business world including TATAs to invest in the dynamic business hub.

Sheng Qiuping, Secretary General of Yiwu Committee of the Communist Party of China was recently in India and met top names from Indian industry and businesses in both Delhi and Mumbai with an eye on inviting them to China’s business hub. “My mission is to deepen and widen business links with India. It is not just exports and imports, I want to invite big Indian investors to Yiwu,” Sheng told ET.

Shen, deeply impressed with India on his first ever visit, informed that there are currently 3000 small Indian traders in Yiwu and there are 314 Joint Venture initiatives between Indian and Chinese companies in Yiwu.

The party leader now hopes that Yiwu will have faster connectivity mode of transport for better connectivity and subsequent trade.

As one of the largest, most influential and most productive commodities trade show in China, 2017 Yiwu Fair Spring - Imported Commodities Fair is currently ongoing between May 6-9 at Yiwu International Expo Center ( YWIEC). Several Indian companies are part of this far.

Every year, around 400,000 Indian businessmen visit Yiwu, accounting for three out of every four foreign businessmen in the city. In 2014 Yiwu shipped $750 million worth of goods to India more than any other country. In 2015, Yiwu shipped goods worth $33.8 million to the world. Of it, export to India stood at $18 billion -- a whopping increase of 69 percent from 2014.

Yiwu capital of Zhejiang province in east China sells 1.8 million goods to about 200 countries through its 75,000 shopping booths spread in an area of 5.5 million square metres.

It is said it will take a year to visit all the shops if one walks eight hours every day and does not spend more than three minutes at each shopping booth. Yiwu has it all, ranging from socks to gimcrack toys, and from artificial flowers to fancy wall clocks.