China emerges as top exporter of sex toys: report

China has emerged as the major exporter of sex toys with the country manufacturing about 70 per cent of such instruments for the world. "China produces about 70 per cent of sex toys for the world," Romeo Jiang, a Chinese sex toy manufacturer, was quoted as saying by the state-run China Daily today.

China has emerged as the major exporter of sex toys with the country manufacturing about 70 per cent of such instruments for the world.

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"China produces about 70 per cent of sex toys for the world," Romeo Jiang, a Chinese sex toy manufacturer, was quoted as saying by the state-run China Daily on Saturday.

"China is the world leader in labour-intensive manufacturing and sex toy production is part of the manufacturing industry, so it is quite normal that China accounts for a high percentage," Ma Xiaonian, a sexologist and the deputy director of China Sexology Association, said.

"Fifty per cent of our customers are from the US and 30 per cent are from Europe," said Jiang, who entered the sex-toy industry in 2003. Last year, Bestgreen's turnover was between $2 million and $3 million.

"We were originally a trade company before we started the adult-product business, so when we got requests to make vibrators from an American customer, we decided to enter the market."

Jiang's factory produces different types of sex toys, including vibrators, dildos and fetish clothes and they are exported at prices ranging from 50 cents to $100.

The sex toy industry in China, with more than 1,000 manufacturers, has been worth about $two billion a year for the past few years, the Daily said.

Meanwhile, a report released by China Market Research Center said that in just the first five months of this year, revenue reached $940 million.

The products included stimulus condoms, which account for 21.5 per cent of the market, the report said.

"It is very different from the past when adult products, including condoms, were not even allowed to be imported into China," Ma said, adding, "Now China produces most of the global adult toys and the Chinese sex-toy industry has been booming in recent years."

Now, the trend is to make sex toys more functional using physiological characteristics.

Ma said in terms of sexual culture, China has also come a long way, since the mainland's first sex shop opened its doors in Beijing in 1993. Sex toys as an aid are very helpful to single-parent families, married couples and singles to live a healthy way.

"Using these can help couples maintain their marriage and perhaps even make it more satisfactory," Ma said.