In recent years, both the toy and baby products industries have seen more and more positive trends, both in terms of products, sales channels and exhibitions. China's toy manufacturing industry, which has been hit by the global economic crisis, is targeting the new niche at more than a trillion yuan in infant and child product consumption.
The reporter learned from the Toys Association of Guangdong Province on March 11 that from the second half of 2008 onwards, a material crisis and the economic crisis gradually swept the world. As the world’s largest toy production and export base, China’s toy exports have been hit hard and faced various severe tests. According to statistics from China Customs, last year China’s toys exported 19.83 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 22.46%; Guangdong toy exports were 12.754 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 25.29%.
On the other hand, for a long time, China’s toy exports have been dominated by processing trade, which is in an unfavorable position in the supply chain, has a meagre profit, and has a high degree of dependence on the world market. As a result, it has experienced difficulties in the economic crisis. However, many Chinese toy companies are struggling in the shadow of the economic crisis and are trying to find new breakthrough points. The total market size of more than 1 trillion yuan in China’s baby products market has become one of the goals for toy manufacturers.
Experts pointed out that on the one hand, with the continuous improvement of living standards, people’s awareness of consumption is changing. Parents are also concerned about the practicality of baby products, and they also hope that they can have various functions such as entertainment, education, potential development, and exercise. , This makes it a good point of integration with toys; the other hand, whether it is the toy industry or baby products industry, developed to a certain extent, are seeking new growth points, are expanding to neighboring industries.
According to statistics, over 16 million newborns in mainland China last year. Sociologists believe that China is experiencing the fourth wave of “baby boom†since the founding of New China and will continue until 2015. The emergence of a new wave of “baby boomers†has created a large and potentially demanding market. At present, the number of infants aged 0 to 6 in the Mainland is nearly 170 million. It is estimated that the annual growth rate of infant products in the Mainland exceeds 30%, and the market scale has reached 850 billion yuan by the end of 2008, and it is expected to exceed 1 trillion yuan in 2010.
It is understood that in the US baby economy, toys account for 50%, while the proportion of Chinese infants and children in the economy is about 5%, experts believe that this is a cultural difference. Toys are a daily necessities for U.S. children. In China, toys still belong to the category of "pure consumer goods." Only when the "necessities" are met can there be a "consumption" hunger. However, in recent years, Chinese people have been increasingly influenced by the concept of Western modern civilization education. The attitude towards toys has also changed quietly. All this is driving the trend toward the integration of baby products and toys.
It is reported that in order to cater to this booming trend, many toy professional exhibitions in mainland China plan to introduce and expand baby products. The 22nd Guangzhou International Toys and Models Fair to be held in April this year is the first time that an independent exhibition, Guangzhou International Baby & Children Products Exhibition, will be set up for the baby and toy companies to build a product display platform. This has won the support of many exhibitors and buyers. Not only has the exhibition scale increased by 100% compared to the previous year, it has confirmed that the number of professional buyers attending the exhibition will also exceed that of previous sessions.