Yiwu International Trade City: 30,000 Merchants Open to AI-Powered Trade in 36 Languages

In Yiwu International Trade City, the world's largest small commodity distribution center, an AI-driven "trade revolution" has begun. Recent data released by the Yiwu Mall Group shows that nearly 30,000 merchants in the market now regularly use various AI tools to conduct business, and Yiwu's independently developed AI applications alone have been used over 1 billion times. Now, merchants are leveraging a new generation of AI-powered smart trade assistants to enable real-time translation between 36 languages. This "world supermarket" is breaking through traditional foreign trade barriers and accelerating its transformation into a digital international trade hub.

AI overcomes the "language barrier," helping Chinese small commodities quickly reach the global market.

Recently, a video promoting products using "Small Business AI + DeepSeek" went viral online, putting Yiwu back in the spotlight. In the video, a Yiwu business owner, after saying "one, two, three, four, five," creates a professional sales pitch in just 10 minutes. It's quite entertaining. Let's follow our reporter on a visit.

At 10 a.m., Fu Jiangyan set up her stand, turned on the spotlight, and began recording her daily product introduction video. After recording, the clip is uploaded to the "Small Business AI Vision" mini-program. Then, product-related keywords are entered. Leveraging DeepSeek's technology, the system automatically generates appropriate product copy. The business owner then simply selects the desired language, and in just 10 minutes, she's become a eloquent business owner. Fu Jiangyan explained that the "Yiwu Business Lady Using DeepSeek to Sell Products" video has garnered numerous likes, and she's capitalizing on this surge in traffic by posting more content on Ganji, with excellent results.

Fu Jiangyan, a business owner at Yiwu International Trade City, said: "It's so convenient. Just say 12345, and it directly delivers your content." Recently, we've been receiving an average of about 50 clients per day who have been contacted through our AI short videos, with the largest orders reaching as large as a full tall cabinet. We're currently in negotiations and hope to have results soon.

In fact, Fu Jiangyan is one of the earliest business owners in the Yiwu market to learn and use AI.

On May 17, 2024, staff from Chinagoods conducted product design and video review. Xinhua News Agency

Chinagoods AI Innovation Service Platform

The Chinagoods AI Innovation Service Platform helped Fu Jiangyan become a "foreign language expert." The platform leverages AI technology to create a variety of innovative AI products, helping businesses build online marketing tools, establish overseas website clusters, and connect with overseas trade.

During the Spring Festival holiday, Yiwu China Commodity City Big Data Company integrated DeepSeek into the Chinagoods AI Innovation Service Platform. Through localized deployment, the platform leveraged over 40 years of accumulated trade data and diverse trading scenarios from the Yiwu market to build a personalized knowledge base for businesses. "This alleviates the burden of server congestion for businesses and better ensures corporate data security," said Lou Qinfeng, Technical Director of Yiwu China Commodity City Big Data Company. After integrating DeepSeek, the platform's AI applications have significantly improved functionality, including copywriting, video generation, image design, and multilingual response.

After the Spring Festival, Yiwu's market reopened, and the Chinagoods platform immediately integrated it into its "Small Business AI Vision Creation" and "Small Business AI Application" platforms. Naturally, Fu Jiangyan, a keen learner, became one of the first to embrace this technological innovation. After the upgrade, she experienced "better usability," "faster speed," and "richer language capabilities"—the most immediate impressions.

In addition to language services, the AI ​​assistant is deeply integrated into the entire trade chain. The system automatically analyzes procurement data from the past six months to intelligently recommend best-selling products for merchants; it generates multilingual marketing copy through machine learning, analyzing overseas social media trends; and it can also warn of logistics delay risks and provide alternative shipping options.

To help merchants get started quickly, the Chinagoods platform reportedly holds regular training sessions on the use of large AI models, helping them learn AI knowledge and related operations.

"Even with no prior design or photography experience, I can quickly produce creative content, which greatly accelerates business growth," said Sun Lijuan, a toy seller in Area 1 of Yiwu International Trade City. After uploading her AI-generated video to an overseas online platform, it not only garnered over 100,000 views, but also resulted in an order for 20,000 custom toy dolls from a Polish client.

Fu Jiangyan, a business owner at Yiwu International Trade City, said: "We are using AI technology to help us expand our customer base, broaden our sales channels, and ultimately expand our customer base. I feel that technological advancement is so rapid, changing every day, so we must keep up with the times, embrace new changes, and continuously learn."

Yiwu merchants are also adept at using the digital tools on major cross-border e-commerce platforms. Hu Yue, a post-90s executive who heads a cross-border e-commerce company in Yiwu, considers AI more like a "customized strategist." He manages customers, orders, logistics, and finances, and even employee training through AI. "Taking orders while you sleep" has finally become a reality. The products currently being produced on the machines are also designed using AI. Thanks to AI, the company's orders are booked through June, and at the beginning of the year, they rented an additional 1,000-square-meter production facility.

Hu Yue(Sami), Head of Yiwu Jinayon Paper Products Co., Ltd.: "To be precise, it was after the second half of 2024 that AI began to be incorporated into virtually all of our operations. We use AI in every aspect of our business, from sales and design to operations and HR."

In Yiwu, a world-renowned small commodity capital known for its "innovation," AI technology has long permeated every aspect of business operations for Yiwu merchants. For example, a Yiwu business owner who once spoke only Chinese has transformed herself into a "digital business owner" who speaks 36 languages, using "AI digital human" technology, fluently introducing her products to international customers. AI-powered electronic business cards and one-click AI-generated product posters and detail pages help merchants acquire customers, quote prices, and secure orders, while also easily creating posters and videos to tap into the global market. AI has become an essential skill for Yiwu businesses. Yiwu's vast amount of practical data will further fuel the optimization and improvement of large AI models, enabling the two to complement each other in a positive way.

This city, which has shaken the global market with its rattle, has once again proved with technological innovation that the integration of traditional commerce and digital intelligence is the golden key to opening the door to future trade.

(Compiled from Blue Media Alliance, Yiwu TV, Jinhua TV, Xinhua News Agency, and Consumer Daily)

Reprinted from: CZTV