Alpaca dolls set for Shanghai show help bring good life to Peru

Unlike mass-produced products, most alpaca dolls in Peru are handmade goods manufactured by local artisans in their family workshops, without uniform design requirement, says Bedregal, adding that it was hard to find partners as making 1,000 identical alpaca dolls meant enormous work for local artisans.

"We set several requirements for the alpaca dolls in terms of their size, height and facial features to make these products popular in China," says Ma.

A thousand alpaca dolls were quickly sold out in the Chinese market, encouraging Ma and Bedregal to set up their own brand Warmpaca.

Their brand has now entered shopping malls in many Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu, and has forged cooperation with three family workshops of about 60 artisans in Peru.

Ma attributes the stellar sales performance of alpaca dolls in China partly to quality-sensitive Chinese consumers. "As China is gradually becoming a moderately prosperous society, Chinese people prefer better living standards."

Orders of alpaca dolls from China generated jobs and steady incomes for Peruvian artisans who usually live in underdeveloped areas. Mamani has added another floor to his house especially for the production of these dolls.

Mamani and his fellow artisans have been making every effort to produce alpaca dolls for the upcoming CIIE.

"Doing business with China has greatly improved the quality of our products as well as our lives. I hope that we will get to know more about China," Mamani says.