Weifang City's Kite Industry Flies High

WEIFANG, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Crowds of people from all over the world gathered in Weifang city – located in East China's Shandong province – to gaze up into the heavens one bright April day.

High above them, hundreds of kites were hurtling through the sky as the 40th Weifang International Kite Festival took flight on April 15.

The city of Weifang boasts a rich history of kite-making and is widely known as the world's kite capital.

It's played host to the kite festival from its inception in 1984 and since then, the kite industry in Weifang has grown at a rapid pace, playing an increasingly important role in both the city's commercial and cultural development.

By the end of 2022, there were more than 600 kite enterprises in Weifang, with over 80,000 people engaged in the sector. The annual sales generated by kite making have exceeded 2 billion yuan ($291 million), with various types of kite products exported to more than 50 countries and regions worldwide – including Europe, the US and Southeast Asia.

In fact, Weifang's kite industry holds a dominant position in the Chinese market, with a more than 80 percent market share and a more than 85 percent market share of the international market.

Wangjiazhuangzi village, the largest kite processing export base in Weifang, has become a hub for the kite industry, boasting a complete supply chain.

The village has not only promoted the development of upstream and downstream companies such as those producing kite bones and kite strings, but has also driven the growth of related industries such as bamboo weaving and printing.

Currently, Wangjiazhuangzi has over 20 bamboo-weaving enterprises, more than 10 processing enterprises for kite bamboo and wood and three kite paper-printing enterprises.

This has led to a powerful boost in the local economy, with e-commerce platforms further enhancing the sale of kite products. More than half the kites produced in the village are sold on e-commerce platforms, with daily sales reaching a staggering 200,000 units at most.

In order to continue promoting the kite industry, plans are underway to build a kite culture creative industry park that integrates research and development, e-commerce incubations, live-streaming sales, logistics and rural tourism.