"The 2008 financial crisis had a huge impact on Yiwu enterprises and we began to realize that we couldn't rely on one big client or a single market," said Long Xijin, a marketing manager in Yiwu.

Long told Xinhua that his company has been expanding rapidly in South America and Southeast Asia with an expected growth of 10 percent this year.

Li has also expanded sales from the United States and Europe to dozens of other markets including Australia and Japan, with annual sales growing from 1 million yuan to 80 million yuan in the past nine years.

More and more Yiwu merchants are also taking advantage of cross-border e-commerce to expand their business.

By November, the number of active buyers of Christmas gifts or accessories on Alibaba's international e-commerce marketplace had increased by more than 150 percent year on year, according to Alibaba.com.

The Belt and Road Initiative also serves as a new driving force for trade growth. In the first three quarters, Yiwu's trade with the Belt and Road countries reached 104 billion yuan, up 7.8 percent year on year and accounting for 48 percent of Yiwu's total foreign trade.

"The overseas strategies of Alibaba.com are providing more accurate business opportunities and more stable supply chains for all merchants on the platform, helping them embrace the new era of global digital trade," said Yu Yong, co-CEO of Alibaba.com.

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