China Didn't Qualify for the World Cup, So Why Is It "Dominating Everything"?

This is a World Cup souvenir shop at a wholesale market in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, China.

The shop sells a variety of souvenirs, including jerseys of countries that qualified for the tournament, cups, and soccer ball-shaped dolls.

[Business Owner: (What is this?) This is one of our main products for this World Cup. Do you know what it is? (Messi?) Yes, that's right. We made it in the shape of a lamb.]

This company alone produced, exported, and sold souvenirs for eight countries participating in this World Cup.

Seventy percent of all souvenirs produced and sold worldwide for this World Cup are made in China.

Once an order is placed, they immediately create a sample and begin production. The entire process, from material supply to production, distribution, and export, is handled as a one-stop service.

[Business Owner: It takes about a week to produce a sample, and we can start production immediately after that.]

For this World Cup, Chinese companies, including three official sponsors—Lenovo, Hisense, and Mengniu—have contributed approximately 500 million dollars, or about 750 billion won.

Hisense provided stadium displays, and Tencent exclusively supplied the live streaming technology for the World Cup.

Chinese capital and companies have participated on a massive scale and have also seen significant profits from product sales.

The South China Morning Post, a Chinese media outlet, even reported that Chinese capital and technology have taken control of the entire operational system of the tournament in Mexico, one of the host countries.

Although China failed to qualify for the World Cup, it has reaped the greatest economic benefits. In China, there is even a saying that "everything went to the World Cup except for the national team."

[Video Editing: Kim Byeong-jik, Source: SHINHWA]
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.