China home to 50 10-billion-yuan industrial belts: report

A total of 50 industrial belts with annual transactions worth over 10 billion yuan ($1.41 billion) emerged across China in 2023, said a report recently issued by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba's Taobao and Tmall Group.

As the Chinese New Year approaches, cultural products and toys sell like hotcakes in Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang Province, which is known as "the world's capital of small commodities." In 2023, 46 markets in Zhejiang Province reported annual transactions of over 10 billion yuan. (Photo/Yang Meiqing)

These 10-billion-yuan industrial belts are located in 21 cities, including Jinhua, Guangzhou, Foshan, Jiaxing and Baoding, and engaged in a variety of businesses such as women's apparel, furniture, mobile phones, skincare and jewelry.

The report studied cities at the prefectural level and above, and defined 10-billion-yuan industrial belts as those reporting annual transactions worth over 10 billion yuan in any top-level product category on Alibaba's Taobao, Tmall and 1688 platforms.

According to the report, the 50 10-billion-yuan industrial belts are densely located in the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta, which are considered the most developed regions for manufacturing and the e-commerce economy in China.

Guangdong Province in south China, boasting a solid manufacturing foundation and an edge in commerce, is home to 21 10-billion-yuan industrial belts, says the report.

Jinhua in east China's Zhejiang Province, which administers Yiwu, known as "the world's capital of small commodities," houses eight 10-billion-yuan industrial belts, the highest among all cities across China.

Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong Province each has five such industrial belts, and Quanzhou in southeast China's Fujian Province has four. Sixteen of the 10-billion-yuan industrial belts are in third-tier and inland cities.

Twenty-three of the 10-billion-yuan industrial belts are engaged in the clothing industry, the report says, and nine are in the women's apparel sector. The women's apparel sector in Guangzhou is the first super large industrial belt with annual transactions worth over 100 billion yuan in China.

The report also nominates industrial belts with annual transactions exceeding 1 billion yuan and ranking in the top 30 in year-on-year growth. These industrial belts are located in 24 cities, including Zhengzhou, Beihai, Xingtai and Ji'an.

The industrial belts mentioned in the report are the epitome of the integrated development of e-commerce and industries over the past more than 20 years.

Statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics show that total online retail sales in China exceeded 15.42 trillion yuan in 2023, an increase of 11 percent compared to the previous year, accounting for 27.6 percent of the country's total retail volume.

It is believed that more 10-billion-yuan industrial belts will emerge as e-commerce continues to develop.