Under the festive lights of a shop in Yiwu, the eastern Chinese city known as "the world's supermarket," Vivian Li, a veteran exporter of hairpieces, smoothed the strands of a product from her latest line, "Ponytail," and turned it lightly in her hands.

Speaking to a longtime Ethiopian client, she elaborated on the cultural significance of ponies and horses in Chinese culture. "It stands for momentum, endurance, speed and forward motion," Li said, which are qualities she hopes buyers will associate with her products.

It is an apt metaphor not only for the Year of the Horse, but also for Yiwu itself. As one of this year's host cities for the Spring Festival Gala, Yiwu is showcasing not only festive cheer but also its ability to turn horse symbolism into brisk, market-ready business.

For Li, that momentum has been building for years. Since 2002, she has seen sustained growth in exporting her products to more than 100 countries and regions. "With quality and trendy designs, there are always business opportunities," said the businesswoman, noting that her "Ponytail" orders are already booked through May.

As of January, more than 120 variations of the targeted "Ponytail," differing in curl, length and style, were sold worldwide. As part of her routine innovation, Li launches over 10 new designs each month.

For her, the Year of the Horse represents a personal leap and breakthrough as she plans to start learning Spanish and French to expand her customer base.

Meanwhile, Li remains proactive in the age of AI. She has purchased a digital language assistant that can communicate in 36 languages. Technology helps, she notes, but it does not replace human understanding.

Li's story is hardly an outlier. It mirrors a broader pattern across Yiwu, where merchants blend cultural cues, manufacturing speed and global awareness to stay ahead of shifting demand.

The city's edge lies in spotting signals early and turning them into physical products at speed, backed by its dense supply chain and an ecosystem that rewards innovation.

Gu Huijie, manager of Rongxing Toys, who began selling toy clothing in 2024, now ships tens of thousands of items a day, including horse-themed outfits, riding a wave of global demand for "fashion" of collectible figures.

Viral characters such as Labubu, spiky-toothed and grinning, have created sustained markets rather than fleeting crazes, she said.

"Yiwu makes rapid innovation possible," Gu noted. She added that each day her company rolls out around five new designs, and most accessories and components can be sourced right in Yiwu. "Yiwu's well-established supply chain ensures quick response and efficient production. That is exactly what gives it an edge and makes it so attractive to us," she said.

Increasingly, that agility in Yiwu is being reinforced by digital infrastructure.

The opening of the Yiwu Global Digital Trade Center in October 2025 marked a milestone in that transition. More than 3,700 new merchants have since moved in, spanning emerging sectors such as creative toys, fashion jewellery, and smart equipment.

Over half are young entrepreneurs running their own brands or selling IP-based products. "Yiwu used to be seen simply as a distributor of goods," said Zhu Xingping, deputy general manager of the center. "Now we are extending into design, R&D, and services like digital logistics to create new value."

At Yang Yang's store within the center, plush horse mascots offer a softer expression of that shift. Each month, she sells approximately 20,000 horse figurines, each featuring a traditional Chinese coin pattern that symbolizes the hope for swift prosperity and success, Yang told Xinhua.

Since Yang started up her business in 2011, she has always followed the market trends and sells necessities, hair accessories, and toys. While traditional plush toys remain her core, Yang is trotting toward the future with plans to launch AI interactive toys capable of simple conversation, designed for companionship.

To support merchants like Li and Yang, Yiwu has rolled out AI tools tailored to small-commodity trade. Sellers can now generate designs, produce promotional visuals, and translate videos into multiple languages with a few clicks.

The results are visible in the data. In 2025, Yiwu's foreign trade exceeded 800 billion yuan (about 115.28 billion U.S. dollars) for the first time, with both exports and imports posting strong growth. The Yiwu International Trade Market now houses nearly 80,000 booths offering more than 2.1 million types of goods, trading with 233 countries and regions.

"In the 'world's supermarket,' the horse is more than a seasonal emblem," said Xia Xuemin, a researcher at the Institute for Public Policy of Zhejiang University, adding that it has become a working metaphor, capturing how merchants here do business, "tirelessly striving toward the next opportunity."