Shenzhen in southern Guangdong Province is now the world's largest ma-nufacturing and export center of Christmas-related products, with an annual export volume of more than US$2 billion, according to an official with the municipal Foreign Economic and Trade Bureau.

Statistics show that the United States is now the largest consumer of Shenzhen's holiday items, such as artificial trees and tree trimmings, cards, and toys, which bring to the city an annual export volume in excess of US$300 million.

Among the various products exported to the United States, Christmas trees alone reached an export volume of more than US$100 million per year, Xinhua news agency said, quoting statistics.

In recent years, seven out of 10 Christmas trees purchased by Americans were made in Shenzhen. The Christmas trees sold at chain stores of Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, are all supplied by Shenzhen manufacturers, according to statistics.

The White House in Washington D.C. has also used Christmas trees made at a particular processing plant in Shenzhen for many years, said the official.

Other Shenzhen-made Christmas products, including stuffed Santas and other Christmas characters, cards and ornaments, are also very popular in overseas markets, including Europe and Australia.

Shenzhen now has about 300 enterprises producing Christmas items, of which 20 specialize in making artificial Christmas trees.

According to local officials, an increasing number of Hong Kong and Taiwan factories have opened pro-duction lines in Shenzhen.

( eastday.com december 20, 2001)