Though the Chinese soccer team again failed to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, related products made in Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang province, have been shipped worldwide.

The city, hailed as the world's largest wholesale center for small commodities, has sold over 88 million flags over the past month at Yiwugo.com, an official website of the Yiwu commodity market.

Since last November, Shi Xinqing, a businesswoman in Yiwu, has been busy working for orders of flags from countries where there are many soccer fans such as Germany, the United Kingdom and Brazil. She said that the export volume jumped by 20 to 30 percent from last November to this May.

"National flags of participating countries and string flags are the best sellers," said He Jinqi, another businessman in Yiwu.

"Our workers have worked around the clock for the orders," He said, adding that the sales of his factory is estimated to be in the region of hundreds of thousands yuan over the past few months.

Yiwu is enjoying the benefits brought by the big sports event.

A shop selling soccer balls in Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/zgyyw.cn]