Yiwu International Trade Market, Global wholesale marketplace in Yiwu, China.

Yiwu International Trade Market is a massive wholesale complex in the city of Yiwu in Zhejiang Province. The facility spreads across five separate districts, each with multiple floors of vendor stalls and showrooms for goods of every kind.

In April 1982 Xie Gaohua became Party Secretary of Yiwu; after street vendor Feng Aiqian complained that her goods were confiscated, he studied Wenzhou's private markets and announced the Huqingmen Market that September. It opened in November 1982 with a few hundred sheds and stalls, the first free market for farmers legalized by a local government in the People's Republic. Booths passed 10,000 in 1991, and District 1 of today's complex opened on 22 October 2002.

The name Yiwu refers both to the city and this trading center, now serving as a buying destination for wholesalers from every continent. Visitors hear Mandarin, English, Arabic and many other languages as business people examine samples and negotiate orders.

The individual districts are organized by product type, so toys, hardware and stationery each occupy separate zones. Anyone planning a visit should allow several hours, as the aisles are long and can feel repetitive.

A large share of the Christmas decorations sold worldwide comes from suppliers who operate stalls here. Many items are displayed as samples on site before being shipped in containers across continents.