Yiwu market resumes business with over 10,000 booths open

Merchants and buyers were queuing to enter the Yiwu International Trade Market on Tuesday (Feb 18). About 10,000 trading booths open to global purchasers in the market, which open for business at 9:00 am and close at 4:00 pm. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Yiwu, a small commodities manufacturing powerhouse in East China's Zhejiang province, saw operations resume at the Yiwu International Trade Market on Tuesday, with about 10,000 trading booths open to international buyers.

All merchants need to process a health declaration via a WeChat app and get a personal QR code. The code, identity certificate and location record of the past 14 days must be submitted to enter the market, according to the local government.

District 1 and District 2 of the market will open for business at 9:00 am and close at 4:00 pm. 

Infrared thermometers are installed at all 16 entrances to the venue, with all merchants and buyers' temperatures taken and health conditions verified before entering the trading market area.

Zhang Jiying, a businesswoman who operates a rainwear store in the market, told Zhejiang Daily that although the market opened two weeks later than usual due to the novel coronavirus epidemic, she has been taking online orders from overseas during the past weeks.

"Our clients are mostly based in Europe, the US and Africa, which are less affected by the epidemic, so the trading volume of the orders has been stable," she said.

Ge Qiaodi,vice-mayor of Yiwu, said that so far about half of the merchants in the market had resumed business, which should rise to 80 percent by the end of this month.

The Yiwu International Trade Market, with 75,000 booths and a business area of 5.5 million square meters, is the center of the world's largest trading hub for small commodities.

Merchants and buyers were queuing to enter the Yiwu International Trade Market on Tuesday (Feb 18). About 10,000 trading booths open to global purchasers in the market, which open for business at 9:00 am and close at 4:00 pm. [Photo provided to