Has the sluggish international toy market impacted the Chinese toy industry?

At present, the prevention and control of the new crown pneumonia epidemic at home and abroad has become normal. Traditional toy sales channels such as shopping malls, supermarkets, and wholesale markets have been under pressure in the short term. Online sales channels such as e-commerce and cross-border e-commerce have quickly filled the gaps and developed rapidly. Recently, Mattel, a world-renowned toy company, announced a loss of US$109.2 million as of the second quarter of this year (its loss in the same period last year was also at the level of US$108 million). Among them, the revenue of the toy category was almost completely shut down due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic. The revenue of the doll category fell 5%, preschool toys fell 21%, car toys fell 26%, and the first version of cartoon toys fell 12%. Coincidentally, the Canadian toy industry has also been severely affected by the epidemic. Many independent toy retailers, large chain stores and well-known companies are preparing to close their doors permanently, including the 30-year-old Toronto toy chain Toys Toys Toys. According to Ecuador’s customs data, China’s toy exports to Ecuador fell by 65% u200bu200byear-on-year in the first half of April due to the impact of the new crown epidemic. China has long been Ecuador's largest source of toy imports. The downturn in the international toy market has seriously affected the export situation of China's toy industry. China is the world's largest toy producer and exporter. More than 70% of the products in the global toy market are made in China. As an important export-oriented industry, China's toy industry is obviously affected by the dual impact of the epidemic and trade protectionism. In mid-July, a survey conducted by the Guangdong Toy Association on the operating conditions of toy companies showed that the production orders of more than half of the interviewed companies dropped year-on-year, mostly by more than 30%. From January to June this year, China’s toy exports continued to grow negatively, with a year-on-year decline of 25.7% from January to February, a year-on-year decline of 16.1% in March, a year-on-year decline of 13.5% in April, a year-on-year decline of 11.8% in May, and a year-on-year decline of 9.1% in June. According to the data, the overall export of China's toy industry is gradually improving. According to statistics, in 2017, China had 14,573 toy companies with export records. In the downturn of the international market, many toy companies are facing severe challenges. Li Zhuoming, chairman of the Guangdong Toys Association, said at the 32nd International Toys and Educational Products Exhibition held in Shenzhen a few days ago that the prevention and control of the new crown pneumonia epidemic at home and abroad has become normalized. Traditional toy sales channels such as shopping malls, supermarkets, and wholesalers The market has been under pressure in the short term, and online sales channels such as e-commerce and cross-border e-commerce have quickly filled the gaps and developed rapidly. Shenzhen is one of the main gathering places of China's e-commerce and cross-border e-commerce industries. In Shenzhen alone, there are more than 150,000 small cross-border e-commerce sellers. The Guangdong Toy Association's survey also shows that the current trend of Chinese toy companies moving overseas is not obvious. Due to rising labor costs, some companies have considered relocating part of their production capacity to Southeast Asian countries in recent years. The Sino-US trade war continues, and some branded toy companies require Chinese toy processing and trade companies to set up factories overseas (such as Vietnam) to avoid the risk of tariffs imposed by the United States. However, the reality is that due to the limited production management technology and supporting capabilities of toy companies in Southeast Asian countries, they cannot meet the strict quality and technical requirements of brand companies. Therefore, orders for products with high quality and technical requirements still have to be entrusted to China, especially Guangdong Produced by toy companies in the region. It is worth mentioning that, in view of frequent strikes in overseas markets, even if coastal toy companies relocate in consideration of production costs, the kinetic energy to migrate to the inland is far greater than that of abroad. Rebecca Mond, vice president of the American Toy Association, believes that China plays a unique role in the world's toy manufacturing industry, with high-standard production technology and customized mass production. At present, no other region or country can do this. . Li Zhuoming also believes that the advantage of China's toy industry leading the world will not change in the short term. After more than 30 years of development, China’s toy industry has become the world’s largest toy producer and exporter, supplying more than 70% of the toys in the world toy market, forming a complete toy industry chain: advanced production technology, high-quality production management and technology Workers and other advantages. The formation of the industrial chain requires the integration of time, location, people, and various factors. Looking at the Southeast Asian countries that intend to develop the toy industry, there is still no one who has the conditions and ability to quickly form an industrial chain to replace China's toy manufacturing industry.