(Yicai) April 7 -- With just over two months to go until this year’s FIFA World Cup soccer tournament kicks off, Chinese merchants are taking an increasing number of orders for merchandise.

Yiwu Jinzun Stationery and Sporting Goods has seen orders for World Cup-related products surge 60 percent online and 30 percent offline compared with the last competition held in 2022, Executive Director Chen Xianchun told Yicai.

While existing customers are placing orders online, new ones are flying in to Yiwu for negotiations, she added. Yiwu, a city located in China’s Zhejiang province, is known as the world’s capital of small commodities and is home to the world's largest wholesale market for small wares, such as phone accessories, sports goods, and seasonal decorations.

A jersey seller in Guangdong province told Yicai that he expects total orders for the World Cup to reach 150,000 individual items, more than double the over 60,000 pieces for the 2022 event. Compared with the previous tournament, online sales are up nearly 50 percent and offline sales about 30 percent, he added.

He said World Cup-themed orders started coming in last May, initially peaked in October, and are expected to hit another high point from the end of this month through the start of the championship in June. The World Cup offers only sporadic business growth, but it serves as a long-term stress test for operations, inventory control, and market expansion, the seller noted.

"The previous World Cup provided an opportunity for the company to enter the Middle Eastern market, and we hope that after this edition, our sales in North America and Latin America will see a significant increase," he said.

Jinzun Stationery has recently received many orders from loyal customers for World Cup-themed products, such as key-chains, badges, and refrigerator magnets, Chen said. She expects another round of demand after the tournament gets underway.

Once it begins, Chinese businesses will experience a surge in additional orders for merchandise, especially products tied to dark horse teams and those that reach the final, Zhang Zhouping, executive director of Bense Think Tank, told Yicai.

Forty-eight men’s national soccer teams will compete in the FIFA World Cup 2026 from June 11 to July 19. It will be jointly held by Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

Yiwu’s vendors are well suited to this kind of event because they can respond quickly to sudden demand, deliver quickly, and use livestreams, short-video platforms, and social media to market products across borders as the tournament unfolds, Zhang pointed out.

Chinese sellers also benefit from a complete supply-chain network that supports large-scale, low-cost manufacturing, while also allowing quick product changes and custom production, which helps them stay competitive abroad, he added.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione