In 2014, the French economy did not improve for the whole year, but the toy market showed a growth momentum.

Although the French economy did not improve throughout the year in 2014, with the advent of Christmas, the toy market has shown a momentum of growth. Parents who have to retrench spending obviously do not want to let the pressure of the sluggish economy spread to their children's Christmas fairy tales. However, when parents are busy choosing gifts for their children and weaving Christmas fairy tales, the French government's supervision of consumer competition and the crackdown on counterfeit products are also stepping up their work to test the safety performance of various toys on the market, and beware of extreme happiness and sorrow. According to the French network of Radio France Internationale, according to a survey conducted by the French consumer research agency NPD, as of early November this year, the French toy market has grown by 2.7%, and the annual growth is expected to reach 3%, which is compared with the 0.4% growth forecast of the overall economy. , Can be described as an exciting number. Moreover, according to the agency’s observations, France, the United Kingdom, and even the European toy market are leaders in the toy market. The German toy industry, which has a growth rate of only 2%, sighs. However, in the French toy market, local products only account for 6% of the market, and 80% of toy products are made in China.　　 In fact, although the French economy has struggled to get out of the crisis in recent years, and most families have had to tighten spending, toy market sales have always been a special case and continue to grow. In the first eight months of this year, toy market sales increased by 5% compared with the same period last year. Industry insiders therefore predict that, driven by the peak of Christmas gifts, the toy market is expected to achieve sales of 3.3 billion euros in 2014, an increase of 100 million euros compared with 2013. However, a number of public opinion surveys also show that parents’ spending on Christmas toys in 2014 has decreased compared to previous years. At the end of October, La Grande Récré, France's second-largest toy manufacturer, predicted that this year, each child's Christmas gift budget would be around 108 euros, a reduction of 3.7% compared with 2013. However, a survey by LSA magazine showed that children’s Christmas gift expenses have shrunk less than adults. 27.3% of the respondents said they would reduce the gift expenses for adults, but only 21.2% of the respondents considered saving children. Christmas budget.　　 With the advent of Christmas, the relevant French regulatory authorities have also stepped up their crackdown on counterfeit and shoddy products, and the inspections on various toys are particularly strict. According to the figures reported by relevant departments to the government’s Secretary of State for Consumer Affairs on the 15th, among the 817 products sampled at the end of this year, 11.7% of the products were removed from the shelves because they did not meet the standards or were deemed dangerous; another 706 products were due to Other reasons, such as being warned for substandard labels. This testing operation will continue until early January next year. The focus of testing is to check whether products, especially those infant toys, meet safety standards. Products that caught the attention of investigators were sent to 11 special testing centers scattered across France. These centers are therefore extremely busy at the end of the year. However, the head of the Marseille testing center told AFP that the number of toys that do not meet the standards has been decreasing year by year. Indeed, in 2013, products whose prices were withdrawn due to unqualified inspections accounted for 15% of the total number of products inspected, higher than this year's 11.7%.　　 In addition to toy safety issues, this year's toy market is also accompanied by some entanglements in the adult world. Some feminist groups gathered outside a toy store in Paris on the 13th to protest that the toy store’s promotion of gender concepts, because most store toy shelves show the difference between men and women in different forms, and this distinction is not just marked by color. Gender distinction, but often implies a different social division of labor. Girls' toys are more about family and housework themes, while boys' toys are more about exploration, combat or intellectual development. Gender equality education began in childhood, and the gender concept instilled from childhood is one of the reasons for the continuation of the inequality of men and women. This is the concept that the French feminist movement has continuously promoted in recent years. A woman who once studied the concept of gender in toys, holding up a toy brochure of a certain store in 1988, told AFP that toys have become more and more gendered since the 1990s. In the 1970s and 1980s, the gender distinction of toy products was not so obvious, because in that era, people paid more attention to gender equality. However, a person in charge of the French Toy Industry Enterprise Federation explained to an AFP reporter that there is now a big explosion of toy products. There are more than 20,000 products in specialty stores. Different counters and different colors are used to distinguish toys for convenience. Customers can find the products they want faster.