Where are thermal cups made?
Yongkang, Zhejiang, together with the neighbouring Wuyi and Jinyun, are known collectively as "Yong-Wu-Jin".
This triangle makes thermal cups, from steel sheet to finished product, with the whole chain inside a one-hour drive.
Why this matters to a buyer: what you are looking for is not "a factory" but "a chain". The chain is here, so changing factories does not mean changing your supply chain.
Why an industrial belt can get these things done (fast sampling, price comparison that means something, small volumes that can be negotiated) — that is the common ground of industrial belts, covered in the separate article on how industrial belts work. This one is about cups only.
What exactly is strong about the Yongkang industrial belt
It is strong in one set of skills: metal + stamping + surface treatment.
Thermal cups, cookware, scooters, weighing instruments (scales), power tools — these five product types do not look alike, but they are in fact the same set of processes: metal material, stamping and forming, surface treatment.
So one town can make all five at the same time: switching product does not mean changing equipment and people.
Zhiying Town is exactly this: non-ferrous metal processing, cup making, scooters, weighing instruments, cookware — above-scale industrial output value of over RMB 6.5 billion. Source: Zhejiang Legal Daily, 2026-05-25, citing the town government.
What this means for a buyer: you want to make cups, but this factory also makes cookware — which shows that its stamping and surface-treatment capability is general-purpose, not limited to one kind of product.
Thermal performance: which standard do you look at?
There is a standard number, so you can ask against it.
| Standard | What it says |
|---|---|
| China: GB/T 29606 (stainless steel vacuum cups) | Current version: 2013; the 2026 edition has been published and takes effect on 2027-02-01 |
| Test duration by type | Cap with an inner plug: tested for 24 hours; no inner plug: tested for 6 hours |
| International: EN 12546-1 | 95℃ hot water (or 0℃ ice water) + a constant 20–25℃ environment + temperature readings at 6/12/24 hours |
So the sentence "keeps hot for 12 hours" needs four things pinned down:
- Which standard was it tested to?
- Does the cap have an inner plug?
- What was the starting water temperature?
- What was the ambient temperature?
The same cup, filled with 95℃ water and left for 6 hours in a 20℃ room, and filled with 80℃ water and left for 6 hours outdoors at 5℃, gives completely different results.
⚠️ As for the specific pass thresholds of each grade in the national standard — we do not have the text, so no specific temperature figures are given here.
The three things customers care about most, and how an industrial belt answers them
| What you care about | How the industrial belt answers it |
|---|---|
| Price | Complete supporting supply, transparent cost structure, price comparison means something |
| Lead time | The production stages are completed locally, with no long-distance transport between processes |
| Customisation capability | Moulds, injection moulding and caps can all be found locally |
One point about "lead time": an industrial belt keeps the processes connected, but each process still has its own scheduling and has to be asked about separately — doing it locally does not mean there is no queue locally.
How to make good use of this industrial belt
Three steps, working backwards from "what do I want".
- Define the product first (thermal cup, cookware, scooter…) — the category decides which type of factory you go to
- Then look at the supporting chain (moulds, caps, surface treatment) — which stage is outsourced
- Finally plan the itinerary (two towns a day, book the far ones first)
How to get there, and how the work is divided between towns, see Buying from China: Yongkang (the origin article).
On price comparison and negotiation, see How to Negotiate Prices with Chinese Suppliers.
Sources
| Data point | Verdict | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Thermal cup exports in the first quarter: RMB 5 billion | ✅ Verified | Transcript of the State Council Information Office press conference (2026-04-14), in the words of Wang Jun, Vice Minister of the General Administration of Customs |
| "Yong-Wu-Jin" (Yongkang, Wuyi, Jinyun) is the concentrated production area for thermal cups | ⚠️ Media report | People's Daily 2026-04-08 / Economic Daily 2026-08-14 |
| Zhiying Town: non-ferrous metal processing, cup making, scooters, weighing instruments, cookware; above-scale output value of over RMB 6.5 billion | ✅ Verified | Zhejiang Legal Daily 2026-05-25 (citing the town government) |
| Thermal cups, cookware, scooters, weighing instruments and power tools share the "metal + stamping + surface treatment" process | ⚠️ Industry observation | Inferred from the product mix of Zhiying Town; not an official statement |
| GB/T 29606 current version 2013; new 2026 edition takes effect on 2027-02-01 | ✅ Verified | National standards full-text public system (openstd.samr.gov.cn) |
| 24 h with an inner plug / 6 h without | ✅ Verified | Original text of the comparative tests by the Zhejiang consumer-protection authorities |
| EN 12546-1 (95℃ + 20–25℃ + 6/12/24 h) | ✅ Verified | Intertek public guidance |