Soccer balls are on sale in the Yiwu International Trade Market. [Photo/IC]

Yiwu, renowned as the "World's Supermarket," is reaping economic benefits as the Asian Games draw near, according to local media reports on July 10.

From January to May, Yiwu recorded a year-on-year increase of 15.6 percent in the export value of sporting goods, reaching 2.85 billion yuan ($395 million).

At a sporting goods store, a Jordanian buyer named Abdullah, aided by a translator, placed an order worth over one million yuan. Abdullah said that 2023 is the year of the Asian Games, and in their country, the demand for sporting goods has been steadily rising.

The dividends of the "Asian Games economy" are becoming evident, particularly for the sales manager of this store, Xu Li.

Xu revealed that there has been a noticeable increase in grassroots sporting events in Asia, and unexpectedly, the best-selling items in their store recently are various match balls that were previously just supplementary products.

Xiang Lili has been operating a store in Yiwu International Trade Market that specializes in goods for ball sports for over a decade. Pointing to a stack of orders, she informed reporters that many of the orders they receive now are custom-made by customers.

Xiang stated that although custom-made products are mostly small in quantity and value, they usually come with high-quality requirements, resulting in higher prices and relatively large profit margins.

She added that clubs and grassroots organizations from various regions are organizing events to welcome the Games. Currently, production orders are already scheduled until October.