BEIJING -
Protectionist measures introduced by foreign
countries and rising production costs are reducing
the already thin profit margins for Guangdong's
toy manufacturers.
"We have worries every
year. We worried about the short supply of workers
last year and now we are concerned about the
foreign market shrinking due to trade
protectionism in many western
countries," Lin Ruorong,
owner of a toy factory in the city of Zhongshan,
told China Daily. His factory manufactures stuffed
toys for export to Europe and the United States.
"The US's toy imports from China have been
decreasing over the past couple of years and the
European Union has raised its market threshold for
China's toy products," he said. "That means my
business is hardly able to survive."
Many
other toy manufacturers in the province have also
been feeling the pinch. As well as increased
protectionism in the US and the EU, where most of
Guangdong's toys have been exported, Russia,
Mexico, Brazil and Argentina have recently
introduced anti-dumping measures against toy
imports from China, citing various excuses,
according to Li Zhuoming, deputy chairman of the
Guangdong Toy Association.
"As Guangdong makes the
lion's share of China's toy exports, the
unfavorable export climate will undoubtedly have a
very negative impact on the province's toy
industry," Li said. Official statistics indicate
that China supplies over 70% of the world's toys
and the province of Guangdong alone makes about
three-quarters of the nation's toy exports.
Li said problems in the export market will
force manufacturers to turn to the domestic
market, intensifying competition on the mainland.
What was worse, Li said, was that the price rise
of raw materials and the rise in workers' wage
will further narrow profit margins this year. For
example, he said the current price of plastic is
23% higher than a year ago, and wages for toy
workers have risen by about 20% in the same
period.
It is time for toymakers to spend
more on innovation and shift production to
technology-intensive toys to tap into new markets,
he said, adding that the provincial toy
association will organize an international toy and
gift fair in Guangzhou from April 9-11 to help
domestic toymakers. Buyers from new and promising
markets will be invited. He noted that Southeast
Asia, with a population of over 500 million, will
be one of the target markets.
Li's view
was supported by Cai Lidong, vice-general manager
of Guangdong Audley Toy Co Ltd, a well-known toy
supplier based in Shantou, a city in eastern
Guangdong. Cai said he expected the rich variety
and competitive prices of the province's toys
would make them popular in these countries.
