Half of China's toy exporters out of business

Beijing, Oct 14 (PTI) The rising yuan, escalating
production costs and trade protectionism have driven out of
the market more than half of toy exporters in China, the
world's largest supplier of toys.
A total of 3,631 toy exporters or 52.7 per cent of the
industry's businesses shut down in 2008. They were mainly
small-sized toy producers with an export value of less than
USD 100,000, the General Administration of Customs said in a
report Monday.
Customs data showed only 3,507 toy exporters were still
in business.
China saw a remarkable business slowdown as a result of
rapid appreciation of its currency, rising human capital and
production costs and falling export rebates.
From January to August, the country exported 35.29
billion yuan (USD 5.17 billion) worth of toys, up 1.3 per cent
from the same time period in 2007. However, the growth rate is
actually 21.80 per cent slower than that of last year.
According to the customs report, the U.S. credit crisis
is part of the reason exports to the US dropped 5.2 per cent
to USD 1.62 billion in the first seven months of the year.
The General Administration of Customs also blamed small-
sized toy producers for not adapting to policy and export
environment changes. Growing global trade protectionism is
another reason the toy industry was hit hard, the report said.
"Last year was the most difficult time in decades for the
Chinese toy industry," Xinhua news agency quoted the vice
chairman of the China Toy Association, Liang Mei, as saying.
Western countries raised quality standards and issued
several recalls on Chinese toys in 2007.
Liang said those standards forced domestic exporters to
jack up production costs, thus driving many small-sized
companies out of the market.
To repair the image of toys made in China, Beijing banned
many unqualified firms from exporting toys. PTI AKJ