In China, cap sales would predict US election results
Rumors about Yiwu’s ability to predict the future date back to 2016. If the vast majority of polls at the time were to be believed, Hillary Clinton should have won the American presidential election. But in Yiwu, in Zhejiang province, a different prediction was made.
Yiwu is home to the globe’s largest wholesaler, and the city is surrounded by factories that make everything from caps to flags for customers around the world. However, Yiwu’s bosses realized that the demand for accessories in Trump’s colors was much greater than that for products in Hillary Clinton’s colors.
When Trump won the electionYiwu businessmen were quite proud, and the “Yiwu Index” has since become an indicator of American opinion. “We are better at predicting what Americans think than Americans themselves,” we flatter ourselves in Yiwu.
In (less than) six months, America is at it again. The presidential candidates compete with promises of firmness towards China to win the favor of voters, while Chinese factories are in the starting blocks to deliver their campaign accessories, notably Yiwu. Because the much-maligned China is also the factory of the United States.
“Regarding Biden, I received nothing”
“I like Trump, because I only have orders for props from his campaign. Regarding Biden, I received nothing. But, if that happens, I can adapt my production,” assures Xie Bingtan, boss of a factory in Shandong province. We meet the business leader in the middle of a sea of 70,000 stalls in Yiwu, totaling a turnover of more than 51 billion euros per year.
The volume of goods is considerable. An entire floor is devoted to caps, another to cleaning products, and entire shelves to toys and products for animals.
