A dragon dance is held at the opening ceremony of the Yiwu International Trade Market on the morning of Feb 20. [Photo/zgyww.cn]

The Yiwu International Trade Market, a giant wholesale market located in downtown Yiwu, Zhejiang province, reopened on Feb 20, following the Spring Festival holiday, which ran from Feb 11 to 17.

Traditional lion and dragon dances were held during the boisterous opening ceremony in the morning, and shopkeepers and merchants entered the market in an orderly manner after presenting their health QR codes and having their temperatures checked.

Merchants and shopkeepers rush into the Yiwu International Trade Market on the morning of Feb 20. [Photo/zgyww.cn]

The Yiwu International Trade Market is considered the heart of Yiwu, which is the world's largest trading hub for small commodities. The date of its post-Spring Festival re-opening this year was three days earlier than in previous years due to the efficient and orderly manner in which e-commerce, logistics, manufacturing, and service companies resumed operations in response to the government's pandemic control requirements.

"Around 80 percent of workers stayed in Yiwu during the Spring Festival holiday in response to incentives by the government to do so, and 60 percent of production lines continued operating throughout the holiday. Now we are waiting for merchants to place orders as soon as the market opens," He Mei, who runs a toy shop at the Yiwu International Trade Market Area, told a local media correspondent. She came to the market at 8 am that morning.

"I look forward to a thriving, lucrative year," she said with a smile on her face.

Many shop owners at the market were optimistic about the market this year.

A shopkeeper puts up a red couplet reading "a thriving business" at the front of her shop at the Yiwu International Trade Market on the morning of Feb 20. [Photo/zgyww.cn]

A total of 41,978 non-locals currently work at the market, 63.47 percent of whom stayed there throughout the holiday.

Around half a million non-locals opted to spend the holiday in Yiwu and benefitted from 17 government policies incentivizing them to stay.