China sees growing toy market: report

SHANGHAI - China's domestic toy sales reached over 64.6 billion yuan ($10 billion) in 2017, an increase of 16.2 percent year-on-year, according to a report published Friday.

Toy purchases per child below 12 years old averaged 276 yuan, up 14.5 percent year-on-year, said the report published by the China Toy & Juvenile Products Association.

In 2017, the domestic sales of children's products also saw robust growth.

The sales of strollers, car seats and feeding bottles reached more than 12.4 billion yuan, 4.3 billion yuan and 4.9 billion yuan, up 16.8 percent, 24.1 percent and 20 percent year-on-year respectively.

Liang Mei, head of the association, said that the fast sales growth shows improved competitiveness of manufacturers through industrial upgrading and upgraded consumption.

China is the world's biggest toy producer and exporter. It has more than 10,000 toy manufacturers with about 6 million employees.