Half Of Toy Exporters Forced To Shut Down

Source: Xinhua  |   2008-10-15  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THE rising yuan, along with escalating production costs, drove half of China's toy exporters out of business in the first seven months of this year, the General Administration of Customs said in a report on Monday.

A total of 3,631 toy exporters, or 52.7 percent of the industry's total, shut down in 2008. They were mainly small toy producers which export less than US$100,000. Customs data showed 3,507 toy exporters are still in business.

China, the world's largest toy exporter, saw a business slowdown as a result of a rapid appreciation of the yuan, rising production costs and falling export rebates.

From January to August, the country exported 35.29 billion yuan (USS$5.2 billion) worth of toys - a 1.3 percent climb from the same period in 2007. But the growth rate was actually 21.80 percent slower than that of last year.

According to the report, the United States credit crisis is partly why exports there fell 5.2 percent to US$1.62 billion in the first seven months of the year.

The Customs agency also blamed small toy producers for not adapting to policy and export environment changes.