The Paris 2024 Olympics Games has come to an end with all athletes chasing the light of dream and fighting for their national honor. “Made-in-Dongguan” has made a brilliant appearance in the track of Olympic economy. Souvenirs, audio equipment, bathrobes, car frames... a variety of products in different fields have once again demonstrated the manufacturing strength and intelligent manufacturing efficiency of Dongguan, “the world’s factory”.
The journalist learned that Dongguan-based enterprises received support for their research, development and production from national, provincial and municipal policies while they’re seeking and accepting orders for sports games. Meanwhile, the precise and concrete services of government departments have also allowed them to shine without burden in international sporting events.
25-years cultivation of ball manufacturing
A “Dongguan Brand” won orders from two consecutive Olympics Games
Each Olympics Games launches its unique souvenirs. One standout in the online and offline souvenirs store of the Paris 2024 Olympics Games is the fresh blue-green volleyball from Dongguan. The souvenir was designed and manufactured by Dongguan Jiaheng Toys Co., Ltd. (Jiaheng Toys) based on the theme of this session and the features of the mascot Phryge.
Founded in 1999, Dongguan Jiaheng Toys Co., Ltd. is a professional manufacturer of sporting goods for children, with a long history of exporting to Japan, Europe, the United States, and Southeast Asia. Jiaheng owns a variety of renowned brands, such as Ho-ho Ball and Hengjia. In recent years, the Jiaheng products have, time after time, appeared on the stages of large-scale sporting events, including the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the 14th Games of the People’s Republic of China as well as the 2024 Super Cup National Air Volleyball Tournament.
“In recent years, Jiaheng Toys has been constantly trying to figure out the needs of international customers and increased labor and materials to upgrade and innovate products in the process of participating in the production of orders for large-scale sports events. We have improved the market competitiveness of our products in terms of materials, performance and production processes. Now, we have more than 100 patents,” said Jiang Lijun, head of foreign trade at Jiaheng Toys.
Enterprises received support from national policies while they’re seeking and accepting orders from sports games. Meanwhile, the precise and concrete services of government departments have also allowed them to focus more on their production. Jiang added, “For example, the tax authority will proactively contact us at the beginning of the year and during important declaration periods to help us solve tax-related problems, optimize tax declarations, and fully enjoy tax policy benefits in a timely manner.” When declaring the 2023 corporate income tax return at the beginning of the year, one of Jiaheng’s financial staff filled in incorrect units. After detecting the abnormal data during back-stage management, a tax official immediately notified the company and instructed the staff to make correction. Thus, Jiaheng Toys did not “miss” the tax benefits it should enjoy. It is understood that in the past three years, Jiaheng Toys has enjoyed a reduction and exemption of about CNY 550,000 of corporate income tax under the preferential policies for small and low-profit enterprises.
Combination of technology and sophistication
“Dongguan-made garments” support and cheer up Olympic athletes
China’s artistic swimming team won the first-ever Olympic gold medal in artistic swimming on August 8. The gorgeous girls perfectly combined strength and beauty, highly praised by online and offline audience. The pink bathrobes worn by the team members during the game drew people’s attention.
Cosmo Lady, an underwear brand rooted in Dongguan for more than 20 years, has specially designed a variety of products for China’s artistic swimming team. One of such customized products is the bathrobe. In March 2024, Cosmo Lady signed a cooperative contract with China’s artistic swimming team, tailoring related clothing for the athletes for different sports scenes, such as strength training, underwater training and coordination training. Meanwhile, the company launched a series of themed products to the market.
“The materials and production techniques of underwear will affect the using experience. We need to keep on studying and improving the quality,” said Zheng Yaonan, chairman of Cosmo Lady. He added that nearly 30% of the company’s employees are R&D technicians. The company invests more than CNY 30 million in research, development and design each year. This year, the new underwear products developed by Cosmo Lady have undergone 18 design updates and 5,000 member tests.
“Clothes making seems to be a traditional industry, but we must insist on making innovation. The support policies given to enterprises by the state in recent years reflect the encouragement for innovation by our country, which has provided great help to our company’s industrial layout in recent years,” said Zheng. Since 2022, the company has enjoyed the policy of weighted deduction of R&D expenses. Based on relevant applicable tax rate, the deduction of corporate income tax equals to about CNY 12 million, which has reduced the cost of R&D and digital upgrading for the company. At present, Cosmo Lady has obtained a total of 527 national patents. It only takes 25 minutes to produce one piece of underwear.
Innovation-oriented, quality-first
“Dongguan Products” won overseas orders by grasping the opportunity of the Games
July 24 witnessed the inauguration of the China House for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Hotel Salomon de Rothschild in Paris, France. Dongguan 3G Audio Technology Co., Ltd. (3G Audio) provides audio support to China House with its MB3 portable speakers.
3G Audio’s cooperation with the Olympics Games dates back to 2008, when the Beijing 2008 Olympics Games was held. For the important international sporting event, the company provided professional audio solutions for many important venues. Subsequently, 3G Audio participated in a number of international sports events, including the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, the 2024 World Athletics Relays Championships Bahamas 24, etc. 3G Audio continued to expand overseas markets. At present, 3G Audio’s products have been sold to more than 130 countries and regions around the world.
Dongguan Ten Tech Composite Technology Corporation (“Dongguan Ten Tech”) has similar experience as 3G Audio. A variety of products of the company, such as bicycle frames, have appeared in multiple international sports events, including the Olympics Games and the Tour de France. Dongguan Ten Tech gained a lot of overseas orders. The champions of Men’s and Women’s Cycling Mountain Bike of Rio 2016 Olympics Games, Women’s Cycling Road of Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games were using the bicycle frames of Dongguan Ten Tech.
It’s essential for enterprises to provide products that meet customers’ needs in order to “break into” international sporting events and open up overseas markets. “The MB3 speakers shown at the China House have their own power supply and wireless connection, which can adapt to various scenarios flexibly,” introduced by Wen Kejian, head of 3GAudio. He added that, in recent years, the company has continuously improved its technology to ensure a long life-span and better sound quality of its products. Meanwhile, 3G Audio has been continuously launching new products that meet market demand, such as professional theater systems and portable outdoor products. Dongguan Ten Tech has established a professional R&D team with many universities and set up a professional composite material production line for the continuous optimization and improvement of product design, material application and production technology.
“In order to maintain our leading position in the industry and seize the overseas market, we spend more than 5% of our revenue in research and development each year. However, it requires a high cash flow as we need to invest a lot in new materials R&D but get return in a long period,” said Chen Qunhua, the financial director of Dongguan Ten Tech. Wen Kejian from 3G Audio held the same opinions, saying that the company is increasing R&D costs year after year, totally CNY 10 million since 2022. They need to pay special attention to the use of funds to ensure the efficient and high-quality performance of overseas orders.
The two companies gave the same answer when being asked their concerns about foreign trade policies. That’s the export tax rebate policy. According to statistics, 3G Audio has enjoyed export tax rebates of CNY 5.43 million, and Dongguan Ten Tech CNY 14 million, since 2023. The export tax rebates that returned to the companies’ accounts in the shortest time help them activate cash flows and better grasp and perform overseas orders. “Now, the export tax rebate may be handled through a ‘paperless’ declaration, and documents may be filed in electronic form. We can make declaration online without traveling to and from the taxation hall. We receive the tax rebate in about two days, allowing us to better mobilize the funds,” introduced by Chen Qunhua. In addition to the bicycle frames for the Olympics Games, Dongguan Ten Tech received a steady stream of overseas orders this year. All production lines are running at full capacity, and the convenient and efficient export tax rebate policy gives them more confidence and strength to seek overseas orders.
