Industry News

Introduction of China’s Eyewear Industry Development

& 
China Wenzhou Int’l Optics Fair

Table of Contents

I.  China's Eyewear Industry Development .................................1

(1) Development of the domestic market ....................1

(2) China's Eyewear Industry and export data.................... 2

II.  China Wenzhou Int’l Optics Fair Introduction ............ 3

Introduction of China’s Eyewear Industry Development & China Wenzhou Int’l Optics Fair

I. China’s Eyewear Industry Development

(1) Domestic market development: In 2022, the myopia rate in China reaches 63.3%, of which 53.6% among children and adolescents. It is estimated that there will be at least 960 million myopia population in the future. Delaying the deepening of myopia in children and adolescents will also become an important task for the development of National Health Care.

In 2022, the overall eyewear market shows a growth trend, among which lenses increase significantly, which drives the growth of frames marketing accordingly. The total retail market value is 89.8 billion yuan (13.7 bln U.S. dollars). The eyewear market is expected to maintain steady growth in the next few years. 

China Eyewear Retail Market Value (bln yuan)

Increment

Source: iResearch Consulting Research Institute independently calculates, studies and draws based on public information, expert interviews and models.

With the gradual infiltration of individuality and quality consumption concepts, the trend of multi-eyewear for one person has emerged under multiple demand scenarios, and mid-to-high-end eyewear brand products such as vision correction, delaying the progression of myopia, resisting light damage, sports protection, and fashion & beauty are emerging. The growth point has attracted the attention of international brands.

During the epidemic, many international brands actively deployed in the Chinese market and achieved good results. For example, in August 2021, the Italian eyewear giant Safilo Group released its 2021 semi-annual report, it achieved a year-on-year growth of 52.2% in revenue. Among them, the Chinese market is one of the main reasons for the recovery of performance.

Mr. Nikolaj Schnoor, Lindberg's global chief commercial officer and Executive President of the Asia Pacific region, said in an interview that the Chinese mainland market is a very important high-end eyewear market. At present, it has become Lindberg's largest market in the world. With a leading growth rate, it operates franchises in Shanghai and Chengdu, and considers to expend in multiple cities. It has more than 300 dealers in 45 cities across the country.

(2) China's Eyewear Industry and exports data: At present, there are many eyewear production bases and distribution centers in China. Among them, Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province, Danyang in Jiangsu Province, Shenzhen in Guangdong Province and Xiamen in Fujian Province are the four major eyewear production bases in China, all of which are located in the southeast coastal provinces. However, their marketing positioning are slightly different.

In recent years, the export volume of China's spectacle frames has gradually increased. In the first half of 2022, the total export value of spectacle products was about 3.782 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 23.79%. Among them, Zhejiang Province is one of the main export provinces and cities of spectacle frames in China. In the first half of 2022, Zhejiang Province exported 1.152 billion US dollars, accounting for 30.46% of the total export value. The Eyewear Industry in Wenzhou accounts for about 40% of Zhejiang's exports. In 2022, Wenzhou's Eyewear exports maintained a strong growth momentum, and the exports exceeded the 10 billion key breakthrough point for the first time, reaching 10.188 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 21%. 

II. Introduction of China Wenzhou Int’l Optics Fair

China Wenzhou Int’l Optics Fair (WOF) is sponsored by Wenzhou Municipal People's Government and Zhejiang Optical Association, organized by Wenzhou Optical Association and Wenzhou Donnor Cloud Expo Co., Ltd. After its first successful debut in 2003, WOF has held 20 sessions. It is currently the one and the only B2B trade show for eyewear export in China. 

Wenzhou is the World High-quality Eyewear Manufacturing Heartland. With the advantages of China's optical production base, based on Wenzhou's export economic foundation, and its unique marketing positioning, WOF has quickly won the favor of the industry. Each year, hundreds of thousands eyewear professionals, merchants and visitors from all over the world gathered in WOF to exchange information, make business arrangements and buy and sell eyewear products.

The exhibition has successively won honors such as "2016-2017 China Brand Exhibition Gold Award", "2018 China City Excellent Exhibition Project Award", "Zhejiang Top Ten Brand Exhibition (Expo) Exhibition", and has been granted UFI Approved International Event in 2019, and has been selected in Wenzhou City's "Annual Municipal Domestic and Overseas Key International Offline Exhibition Catalog" for many years.

The 21st China Wenzhou Int’l Optics Fair will be held in Wenzhou International Convention and Exhibition Center from June 15th to June 17th, 2023. The exhibition area is expected to reach nearly 40,000 square meters, attracting more than 500 exhibitors from Xinhe Hebei, Shenzhen Guangdong, Xiamen Fujian, Taizhou (Yuhuan/Linhai) Zhejiang, Yingtan Jiangxi, Danyang Jiangsu, Rongchang Chongqing, and Wenzhou etc. WOF aims to encourage strengthened cooperation among manufacturers and buyers, as well as promoting related fashion design, technologies and industries - along with showcasing a collection of the latest services and products related to optical in and outside China. Experience During the three-day exhibition, it is expected to receive more than 15,000 visitors, including 1,200 overseas visitors.

With the completion of Wenzhou New International Convention and Exhibition Center (with an exhibition hall area of more than 100,000 square meters), the future of WOF is promising. Not only in terms of the number of exhibitors, but also the scale of the exhibition, it will show an overall upward development trend. WOF will present a brand new, professional, internationalized business platform in coming years. It aims to make certain contributions to the healthy development of China's optical industry!