(Yicai) Aug. 2 -- Small and micro Chinese companies have landed many orders for major international sporting events such as the Summer Olympic Games being held in Paris by leveraging their creativity, quick response times, strategic placement in cross-border e-commerce, and resilient supply chains.

“Major sporting events are a windfall for us,” said Lin Zhilie, head of Guangzhou-based Healy Apparel. The firm has been working against the clock almost every month to deliver goods for the Association Football Club Asian Cup, the European Soccer Championship, Copa America, and the Olympics, he noted.

Securing Olympic orders is no easy task, Lin said. The organizers of many sports events, including the International Federation of Association Football and the International Olympic Committee, make inquiries on cross-border e-commerce platforms and then choose from suppliers based on samples, while suppliers must quickly respond to get the orders, he added. 

During the European Soccer Championship last month, Healy Apparel was designing products for the event while at the same time watching the semi-finals, Lin pointed out. It spent three days designing clothes for the two finalists once they qualified, which brought higher added value to the tournament, he said.

Healy Apparel has greatly benefited from investment in supply chain equipment and digitalization, according to Lin, who visited many factories last year to find a suitable digital transformation and upgrade solution suitable to upgrade the firm. It has completed full-chain digital operations and the first phase of intelligent factory transformation, he said, adding that the firm plans to complete the third phase this year and expand its staff headcount to more than 500 from over 300.

Zhenyue Arts and Crafts has also benefited from major international sporting events, receiving an order from a French gift company for products to be sold in stores in Olympic venues, said Manager Yu Chongyang. Though the order was only worth around CNY1 million (USD 138,000), the firm was given the chance to provide creative input, gaining partial pricing power, he noted.

That experience helped Quanzhou-based Zhenyue transition from simple manufacturing to original design and laid the foundation for their brand marketing, Yu noted.

Yu also pointed out that major sports events prioritize quality and factory capability over price sensitivity, offering wider profit margins compared with most big orders placed on an original equipment manufacturer basis. The global market, especially Europe, has largely recovered this year, with Zhenyue's first-half sales on the continent exceeding last year's total, he said.

Micro, small, and mid-sized foreign trade firms have also benefited from sporting events thanks to the development of cross-border e-commerce platforms in China. As the Olympic Games partner, Alibaba Group Holdings put up adverts for Chinese foreign trade firms in airports, subways, railroad stations, and landmarks such as Avenue des Champs-Elysees early last month. 

Olympic-related exports through Alibaba tallied over CNY7 billion (USD966 million) between January and the week before the games kicked off. Chinese budget fashion retailer Shein also held a two-week 2024 Sports Season event last month to boost the popularity of products related to the Olympics.

Editor: Martin Kadiev