Kids' vehicles power industry in Pingxiang

Editor's Note: As China ramps up efforts to vitalize rural areas, some counties have found success through creative thinking. In this series, China Daily takes a closer look.

Xu Yifan is planning to pick a balance bike for her 2-year-old girl, hoping she can learn a new skill from riding it.

"She has learned to ride many kinds of vehicles and is very good at handling them," said the 27-year-old mother, filled with pride.

As a livestreaming anchor who sells vehicles for kids, Xu is confident she can choose a good one from the many brands produced in her home county of Pingxiang in Xingtai, North China's Hebei province.

The county, about 400 kilometers southwest of Beijing, abounds with manufacturers of bicycles, skateboards and other vehicles for children.

It annually produces on average 145 million bicycles, toys and mini vehicles for children. The sales volume of its products accounts for 70 percent of the domestic market and 50 percent of the international market, according to the county's government.

"All my daughter's vehicles are selected from local factories. They are pretty good."

Xu is rejoicing that the county's industry has provided great convenience for her baby's play.

More importantly, it has also given her a stable job at home.

Xu worked in Beijing after graduating from college in 2017.She quit her job two years later and went back to Pingxiang after hearing that sales via livestream were growing.

Xu's job is to introduce and sell children's vehicles via livestreaming channels on Douyin, a popular short-video platform.

"It's very interesting selling children's stuff, and it makes me feel fashionable to be a host," she said.

Including Xu, Pingxiang has nurtured more than 100,000 skilled workers in e-commerce to serve its pillar industry, which dates back to the 1970s.

"In old times, we only made parts for bicycles, like pedals and saddles. But they only had small gains for us," said Dong Rongxu, chairman of Hebei Hengchi Bicycle Parts Group, one of the county's major vehicle makers.

According to Dong, the county was once filled with small family workshops for producing components or assembly.

Gradually, the workshops developed into big factories and Pingxiang grew a whole industry chain, attracting well-known brands to invest, including Good-Baby, a famous provider of maternity and children's products.

Dong has been one of the beneficiaries. The entrepreneur, 67, started to make saddles for bicycles in 1993.

About 10 years later, his factory had expanded into a manufacturer for bike components, complete bikes, children's vehicles and toys.

In 2008, his targets shifted from the domestic market to countries in Europe, South America and the Middle East.

"Overseas markets have different needs, which help us enrich our products," he said.

Entrepreneurs like Dong have taken the vehicles made in Pingxiang to the world. At present, it has more than 5,000 manufacturers of children's vehicles, and their products are sold to more than 60 countries and regions around the world.

By 2025, the county's annual revenue from the children's vehicle industry is expected to hit 20 billion yuan ($3 billion). The sales volume is expected to account for more than 80 percent of the domestic market and over 55 percent of the international market, according to Xie Jianxia, head of Pingxiang county's development and reform bureau.

"All kinds of toys and vehicles for kids needed in the process of a child's growing up can be found here by the world," Xie said.