---------

We Have Something to Say! 

  We would like to express our gratitude to Mr. Guo from China Daily for the special report on Liji Jewelry e-commerce industry. We welcome more media reports on this topic in different languages, such as English, Japanese and French. Liji Town welcomes friends from all over the world! Xuzhou Qiaojiaren Jewelry Co., Ltd. has signed up for the exhibitions, including China Yiwu International Commodities Fair (referred to as "Yibo Fair"), China Import and Export Fair (referred to as the "Canton Fair"). We sincerely extend warm welcome to you for business negotiation! Company Email: xuzhouqiaojiaren@163.com; Kong Peipei, general manager: 18120027889 (Tel. & WeChat)

---------

*-*-------

Workers using fashion to pull themselves from poverty

By CANG WEI in Xuzhou, Jiangsu | China Daily

Updated: Sept 6, 2019

At a factory in Suining county, Jiangsu province, workers busily create women's fashion accessories, meticulously manipulating needles, stringing colorful beads, attaching tiny ornaments to hairpins or adding artificial pearls to earrings. The work requires patience and dexterity-and it isn't easy, even with two healthy hands.

Wei Lixia, 56, however, works with just one hand. The nerves of her left hand were damaged in a car accident 30 years ago, and she's been forced to adapt. Some of her fingers don't work. At the factory, she earns 40 yuan ($5.60) a day and counts herself lucky.

Wei is one of some 100,000 women in Liji township who not long ago could earn little to nothing. Now, from humble beginnings in the 1980s, Liji's accessories industry brings in revenue of around 7 billion yuan annually.

It's a success story made up of countless small, individual successes-women who once had no income now providing valuable contributions to their families.

It wasn't easy for Wei, given her disability, to find a steady job. Adding to the difficulty, she lacks formal education. But she stands out as one example of Liji women who now provide for their own livelihoods.

"I know I'm illiterate, but I need money," she said. Her husband and children left her behind as they sought work in cities.

With the stiff fingers of her left hand, she manages to open hairpins and then stick on various decorations.

For Wei, things began to change for the better in 2017 when an e-commerce industrial park was created in Liji. Many left-behind women like Wei found work making women's fashion accessories.

The park, which occupies 86,000 square meters, now houses more than 300 e-commerce businesses. The owners provide materials, chairs and food. Many receive orders from Yiwu, Zhejiang province, which is known as China's export hub for household merchandise.

Wei typically walks about 20 minutes to get to the factory in the morning and then works for three to four hours before returning home to cook lunch for relatives.

After lunch, she continues her work at the factory until about 6 pm. She can create more than 3,000 hairpins a day. Those with normal hands can double her output but seldom match her determined spirit.

"The amount of work time sounds like a lot, but it passes quickly when you're talking with other women," Wei said.

"I'm used to my left hand. None of my co-workers are disabled. I can dress and cook as fast as anyone, even though I cannot compete with them in doing detailed work."

In addition to the businesses inside the park, Liji has about 800 stores scattered throughout the township.

Liji, which encompasses an area of 63 square kilometers, has a 600-year history. It rose in stature by manufacturing household merchandise and accessories in the 1980s and its most famous product-hairnets-was exported worldwide.

"We made almost all the country's hairnets at that time," said Lu Li, head of the township. "Now more than 100 metric tons of accessories are shipped to Yiwu every day. From there, they will be transported across China and to the rest of the world."

Lu said the township has few large factories or workshops, as most products are handmade by local women in small-scale facilities.

"Small ornaments such as brooches, armbands and hairpins don't require large-scale mechanical processing, so most of the production is done by hand," Lu said.

The president of the Liji Township Accessories Association, Zhao Guangwen, said that Liji processes more than 200 categories of accessories and exports them globally, including to countries in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa.

"But 10 years ago, the township only had four workshops that made accessories," Zhao said."Now the left-behind women not only make money for their families but are also the core of an impressive industry."

Unlike other rural areas in China, women in Liji typically have tools and materials at hand to make accessories in their spare time.

"I don't consider it something I must do but something that's fun to do," said Yang Xulan, 57, a grandmother who often waits for her grandson at Liji Elementary School. "Making pretty hairpins and headbands out of beads, cloth and thread exercises both my hands and my brain. I can earn some pocket money for myself after making a meal for my family and doing the housework."

She added: "Living in a small village doesn't cost much. The extra money improves my living standards."

Besides making traditional accessories, some locals design new products to sell online.

Du Baolu, 26, has organized his own design team to sell to several online stores on the country's largest e-commerce platforms. After graduating from a university in Suzhou, he was determined to start a business in his hometown.

"I was shocked by the rapid growth of Liji's accessories industry and wanted to be part of it," Du said. "In college, I would sell my grandmother's handmade accessories on the internet, and they sold out fast. Now I've hired professional designers to make fashionable accessories and a group of workers to make them. Women, especially those from poor families, get priority for jobs making the products."

According to the Liji government, the town has allocated 15 million yuan to help people start online stores. It had 5,533 people living in poverty around 2016, but the number plummeted to 373 in 2018, it said.

For Wei, there's another advantage to living in Liji. While her husband and children work in neighboring cities, they're a short one or two hours away and often return to be with her.

Guo Jun contributed to this story.

**-*-*

李集饰品电商小镇欢迎您！

徐州俏佳人饰品有限公司欢迎您！

Liji Town welcomes friends from all over the world! 

“大李集饰品电商”微信公众号为李集饰品电商工作官方公众号。发布李集镇饰品电商办、饰品电商产业园、东方饰品小镇（饰品电商小镇）、徐州俏佳人饰品有限公司等相关信息。

搭建饰品产业交流平台，发展饰品跨境电商，弘扬大李集饰品文化。

徐州俏佳人饰品有限公司（Xuzhou Qiaojiaren Jewelry Co., Ltd.）为国有公司，具有进出口资质，拥有多个饰品加工设计团队和标准化实体工厂，通过ISO9001质量体系认证，拥有“DALIJI”等多个国际商标。依托大李集饰品产业集群优势，主营跨境电商业务，并承接内外贸各类饰品加工订单（含小批量多频次电商平台供货），开展饰品礼物定制服务，代理代销饰品原材料，孵化内外贸饰品电商，饰品电商文化开发运营等。欢迎实地考察洽谈！

徐州俏佳人饰品有限公司常年招聘专兼职打样员、生产协调员、跨境电商客服、外贸业务员、平车工、包装工等工种，待遇优厚，欢迎加入俏佳人！

公司邮箱：xuzhouqiaojiaren@163.com

业务联系：孔主任 18120027889（微信同号）.

地址：江苏省徐州市李集镇工业路饰品电商产业园。

We sincerely extend warm welcome to you for business negotiation! 

Company Email: xuzhouqiaojiaren@163.com; 

Kong Peipei, general manager: 18120027889 (Tel. & WeChat)

Xuzhou Qiaojiaren Jewelry Co., Ltd.

业务请联系孔主任：18120027889（微信同号）

2019年部分市级以上媒体报道

201909.06.--《China Daily》--Li Ji--Workers using fashion to pull themselves from poverty ；

2019.08.03.--《中国新闻网》--“小饰品”开辟脱贫增收“新天地”；

2019.06.08.--《新华日报》---“没有围墙的工厂”带动近10万妇女从业——小饰品，“玩”出大产业；

2019-05-16-《学习强国--江苏学习平台》---高质量发展-江苏睢宁：巧手编织致富路 小饰品成就大产业---

2019.01.18.--《徐州日报》---打造淮海经济区 最大饰品基地 ---睢宁李集镇饰品电商产业园开园，预计明年形成百亿产值；

.

Xuzhou Qiaojiaren Jewelry Co., Ltd.

We sincerely extend warm welcome to you for business negotiation!
 Company Email: xuzhouqiaojiaren@163.com; 
Kong Peipei, general manager: 18120027889 (Tel. & WeChat).
Liji Town welcomes friends from all over the world!

更多信息欢迎访问李集镇官方微信：

.