As a hub of the world’s promotional gift production and export, China, with its gigantic supply chain and logistic system, can provide customers with customized products at a unit cost as low as 0.2 US dollars per item (for example, silicone bracelets, badges, etc.), and can deliver ultra-fast globally directly within 7 to 15 days. Yiwu is a case in point. The local promotional gifts suppliers in China reduced the cost of raw material procurement by 30% due to a clustered production model (e.g., the price of PVC material per kilogram is $0.5 lower than that in India), and have achieved a daily production capacity of over one million pieces thanks to automated production lines. Minimum order quantity can be pushed down to 300 pieces, fitting the budget of small and medium-sized enterprises in a flexible way. China’s export of promotional gifts takes up 72% in the world according to the 2023 Global Sources report. Proportion of North American and European customers, who choose Chinese suppliers based on costs, has increased by 18% year-on-year among them.
In logistics efficiency, Chinese suppliers have shortened the sea freight cycle from the traditional 35 days to 22 days (for example, the Shenzhen-Los Angeles line) through cross-border warehouse collaboration and multimodal transport, and the air freight cost is 40% lower than local procurement (at approximately 2.5 US dollars per kilogram). In 2022, a UK e-commerce company customized 50,000 reusable cloth bags through its promotional gifts china partner. It took only 12 days from design confirmation to delivery at the London warehouse. Logistics cost was maintained within 15% of the total cost, which was a 25% cost saving on the budget compared to local purchase. In addition, the “5-day delivery” service launched by China’s leading logistics enterprises (e.g., Cainiao International) has covered over 50 countries around the world, with a punctuality rate of 96% and a damage rate of cargo of less than 0.3%, significantly enhancing the stability of customers’ supply chains.
The Chinese suppliers’ quality control mechanism is also first-class. They have passed ISO14001 environmental protection certification and REACH compliance testing. Their defect rate for products is only 0.8%, while the tensile strength exceeds 20MPa (e.g., custom backpacks with material of polyester fabric). One specific factory in Dongguan, for example, has an AI quality inspection system that can screen 5,000 gifts per hour with an accuracy of 99.5%, and also provides sample confirmation within 48 hours. In the year 2023, the factory supplied 100,000 metal keychains to a French supermarket chain. They performed perfectly in the salt spray test (lasting over 5 years), with a return rate of less than 0.5% and a customer repurchase rate of up to 80%.
Policy dividends have further strengthened China’s advantages. RCEP agreement reduced the tariff for exporting promotional gifts to ASEAN by 8-12%, and the policy of “one-day export tax rebate processing” launched by cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones (e.g., Hangzhou) has allowed companies to improve their cash flow turnover rate by 20%. For instance, in 2021, a Shenzhen China promotional gifts company lowered the German customers’ storage expense by 30% through the “China-Europe Railway Express + overseas warehouse” model and shortened the delivery deviation from ±5 days to ±1 day. According to DHL figures, companies using Chinese supply chains record an average ROI of 1:6 in promotional campaigns, 35% higher than that of local suppliers, demonstrating their dual competitiveness in timeliness and cost.