World Cup boosts China’s sports goods exports

China has seen a surge in sports goods exports as manufacturers leverage the business opportunities brought by the upcoming World Cup to accelerate their expansion into overseas markets.

The FIFA World Cup 2026, the 23rd edition of the tournament but the first to feature 48 teams and three host countries, will be jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States from June 11 to July 19. The sporting extravaganza has fired up a flag frenzy.

With over a month to go before the event kicks off, a flag manufacturer in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province has already produced 8 or 9 million related products, including national flags, bunting flags, and hand flags.

Racing against time to meet a surge of global orders, the factory of the Qingdao Wonderful Flag Industry Company has added a second shift to increase output.

"We keep receiving orders for flags of top contenders, such as Spain, Argentina, and Brazil. The production is non-stop. All our orders will be shipped out about 10 to 15 days before the World Cup starts," said Huo Qingliang, a manager of the company.

Beyond the surge in World Cup-related merchandise, some sports equipment companies have successfully increased their presence in the U.S. by incorporating feedback from overseas online influencers and launching smaller and easy-to-assemble products with new functions that better meet the specific demands of U.S. consumers.

"From January to April, our export revenue was nearly 80 million yuan, up 36 percent from last year. The U.S. accounted for 70 percent of that growth," said Zheng Guoliang, president of the Qingdao Kingdom Health Industry Company.

According to statistics, Shandong exported nearly 5 billion yuan (about 735.2 million U.S. dollars) worth of sports goods and World Cup-related products in the first four months of the year, an increase of over 4 percent year on year.

"The products are mainly exported to the United States, the European Union, and Latin America. Among them, the EU and Latin America are new growth drivers. Products that saw the bigger growth rates are water sports equipment and outdoor play equipment," said Qi Huaipeng, a local customs officer.

World Cup boosts China’s sports goods exports

China's top legislator Zhao Leji met with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in Beijing on Tuesday.

Zhao, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, said that China stands ready to work with Tajikistan to strengthen cooperation across multiple key areas.

Taking the important consensus reached by the two heads of state as the fundamental guideline, Zhao said the two sides should aim to deepen strategic mutual trust, expand practical cooperation, promote high-quality development of China-Central Asia cooperation, and build a China-Tajikistan community with a shared future featuring everlasting friendship, solidarity, and mutual benefit and win-win results.

Zhao said China's NPC is ready to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the parliament of Tajikistan to provide a legal guarantee for the long-term healthy and stable development of China-Tajikistan relations.

Rahmon said Tajikistan firmly adheres to the one-China principle and fully supports the four major global initiatives put forward by China.

He said Tajikistan is glad to see the great achievements China has made in its modernization drive, and is ready to strengthen practical cooperation with China in various fields such as politics, economy and culture, deepen exchanges between legislative bodies, and continuously enhance the friendly feelings between the two peoples.

On Tuesday morning, Rahmon laid a wreath at the Monument to the People's Heroes.

Rahmon is paying a state visit to China from from Monday to Thursday at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

China's top legislator meets Tajik president