(Yicai Global) Aug. 11 -- After an initial push to boost foreign trade since the Covid-19 pandemic began, Yiwu International Trade City is going online as several merchants are entering closed-loop systems amid the eastern Chinese city's new Covid-19 outbreak.

Hundreds of foreign buyers' trips to the Yiwu Market may be delayed as the city's administration announced a three-day "static management" period, starting today. Since the local flare-up began on Aug. 2, almost 480 cases have been reported as of today.

A person in charge of a small business in the wholesale market received a notice of work suspension today. The company has already halted production and many clients stopped sending packages to the city a week ago, the person told Yicai Global.

However, not all business trips have been canceled. A charter flight carrying 107 businesspersons flew from India to Hangzhou on Aug. 9. Ten days before that, another charter flight of 163 people arrived in the same city in Zhejiang province in order to transport buyers to the Yiwu Market after their necessary quarantines.

HC Semitek, a major manufacturer of light-emitting diode lamps in Yiwu, began preparing the day before yesterday to start closed-loop production, Hu Jianyong, director, said to Yicai Global. The concept of closed-loop management has become common in Chinese cities during lockdowns, requiring workers to stay and sleep in the workplace while avoiding contact with outsiders.

However, there may be a way to keep selling goods. Marketing via live-streaming shows has not stopped completely despite the epidemic prevention and control measures, said Jin Haomin, vice president of the Yiwu Beixiazhu Social E-Commerce Association. "There are still hundreds of people who broadcast online." Before the pandemic, the number used to range from 1,000 to 2,000.

The new way of selling goods online has become popular. In the first half, some 253,000 live-streaming activities were carried out by influencers in Yiwu. Such sales surged 23 percent to CNY19.5 billion (USD2.9 billion) from a year ago, according to data from the Yiwu Market Development Committee.

The world needs Yiwu and Yiwu needs the world. Commodities from the city are exported to more than 210 countries and regions. Meanwhile, the city's export dependence is as high as 65 percent. More than 560,000 foreign businesspeople came to the city in Zhejiang province to purchase goods every year before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Yiwu’s e-commerce trading volume climbed by 19 percent to CNY371.5 billion (USD55.1 billion) last year from a year earlier, making it the largest county-level city for online retail in China. Yiwu’s foreign trade value totaled more than CNY200 billion in the first half, growing more than expected.

Editors: Shi Yi, Emmi Laine