Where is Cixi?
A county-level city administered by Ningbo, Zhejiang Province.
It sits on the south bank of Hangzhou Bay; cross the Hangzhou Bay Bridge and you are heading towards Shanghai. It is about an hour from downtown Ningbo, about an hour and a half from Hangzhou, and about two hours from Shanghai (over the sea bridge).
In one line: Cixi is a production base — the place that makes small home appliances.
What does Cixi make?
Small home appliances. Officially it is called "China's Capital of Small Home Appliances".
The categories in practice: irons, water dispensers, space heaters, electric fans, vacuum cleaners, small kitchen appliances, sockets and power cords.
It does not make "large appliances" (fridges, washing machines and air conditioners are made elsewhere); it makes "small" ones — low unit price, large volumes, fast model changes.
Why Cixi?
Because it has broken "making a small appliance" into many steps, each done by a specialist, and the whole supporting chain is local.
Take one small appliance apart: plastic housing, motor, heating element, power cord, circuit board, switch, packaging. Every one of these has a dedicated factory you can find locally in Cixi.
More to the point, certification is local too:
- VDE, GS, CB, CE and CCC certification can all be done locally (per the Cixi Commerce Bureau's public answer of 2026-07-07: the local VDE Jianheng East China Comprehensive Testing Base)
- Intertek's Cixi branch has ErP energy-efficiency, EMC electromagnetic compatibility and IP water-resistance laboratories
What this means for a buyer: to do CE or GS for the EU, you do not have to ship samples abroad and wait weeks — you can test locally.
How big is Cixi's industry? (official figures)
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 cross-border e-commerce exports under customs supervision | 3.56 billion yuan, up 62.4% year on year | Cixi Commerce Bureau, 2026-07-07 |
| Cross-border e-commerce enterprises | 128 newly added, 578 in total | Same as above |
| Share of home appliances in cross-border exports | Over 50% | Same as above |
| Overseas warehouses | 18 in total, 420,000 m² in area | Same as above |
| Cixi Premium Products Pavilion | 100+ above-scale home-appliance enterprises, 1,500+ products | Same as above |
Note: these are cross-border e-commerce figures, not total industrial output. "Over 50%" means home appliances' share of cross-border exports, not of the national market.
Town by town, what does Cixi make where?
〔Not confirmed: no public version of the Cixi municipal government's document on town-level industrial specialisation could be found. There are "town X makes product Y" claims online, but with no government source, so they are left out.〕
What buyers should know: for what each town under Cixi (Zhouxiang, Guanhaiwei, Zonghan, Kandun, for example) actually makes, the most reliable way is to ask the local industry association or a supplier, not to read an "industrial belt map" online.
How complete is Cixi's supporting chain?
Four blocks, all of which a buyer will use.
| Support | What it is |
|---|---|
| Certification and testing | VDE, GS, CB, CE, CCC; ErP energy efficiency, EMC, IP water resistance |
| Industrial design | There is a local industrial design association; it has run 18 editions of the "Cixi Cup" industrial design competition (20,000+ entries in total) |
| Overseas warehouses | 18, 420,000 m² — usable directly by cross-border e-commerce sellers |
| Logistics | A "1+5+N" logistics system under construction (1 comprehensive hub + 5 specialised parks) |
"Certification done locally" is Cixi's biggest differentiator — plenty of production areas can make the product but cannot do the certification, so samples have to be shipped abroad.
How do you get to Cixi?
| From | How | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Ningbo | High-speed or intercity rail to Yuyao North, then a taxi | About 1 hour |
| Hangzhou | High-speed rail to Yuyao North | About 1 hour |
| Shanghai | Over the Hangzhou Bay Bridge, or high-speed rail to Yuyao North | About 2 hours |
| Yiwu | High-speed rail to Yuyao North, then change | About 2 hours |
〔To be verified: exact trains and journey times — no timetable is printed here; check 12306 on the day.〕
Station tip: Cixi has no high-speed railway station of its own; the nearest is Yuyao North, and from there it is about 40 minutes by taxi to the Cixi city centre.
How does Cixi relate to Yiwu and Ningbo?
Three different roles.
| Place | Role |
|---|---|
| Cixi | Production base: makes small home appliances |
| Ningbo | Port plus big city: Beilun Port is the export port, and most Cixi cargo leaves via Ningbo |
| Yiwu | Market: a distribution centre for small commodities, not a production base |
One practical point: most Cixi cargo ships out of Ningbo. When you negotiate FOB, ask clearly whether it is "FOB Ningbo" or another port.
Visiting factories in Cixi: how many in a day?
Two to three a day.
Most towns are within half an hour's drive of the Cixi city centre, but the factories are not clustered (a town may have only a handful making the same category).
Suggestion: fix the category first, then the factories — do not arrive in Cixi and only then wonder which ones to visit.
Sources (2026-10-31)
| Item | Nature | Source | Date checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| "China's Capital of Small Home Appliances" | ✅ Official | Cixi Commerce Bureau public answer (`cixi.gov.cn`, 2026-07-07) | 2026-10-31 |
| 2025 cross-border e-commerce exports of 3.56 billion yuan, up 62.4% | ✅ Official | Same as above | 2026-10-31 |
| 578 cross-border e-commerce enterprises in total | ✅ Official | Same as above | 2026-10-31 |
| Home appliances over 50% of cross-border exports | ✅ Official | Same as above | 2026-10-31 |
| 18 overseas warehouses, 420,000 m² | ✅ Official | Same as above | 2026-10-31 |
| Premium Pavilion: 100+ above-scale enterprises, 1,500 products | ✅ Official | Same as above | 2026-10-31 |
| VDE/GS/CB/CE/CCC certification available locally | ✅ Official | Same as above (VDE Jianheng East China Comprehensive Testing Base) | 2026-10-31 |
| Intertek Cixi: ErP/EMC/IP laboratories | ✅ Official | Same as above | 2026-10-31 |
| Town-level industrial specialisation | ❌ Not confirmed | No public government document | 2026-10-31 |
| Travel times to Cixi | ⚠️ Estimate | Estimated from geography; confirm with 12306 or a map | 2026-10-31 |
Official link: http://www.cixi.gov.cn/col/col1229154907/art/2026/art_54cf93cc137d41dc88d4377c98a3fa0b.html
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