In a factory in Guangdong Province, China, a young salesman wearing a hunting cap and a magnifying glass over one eye is live-streaming in English with a British accent. His name is Xiao Zhu (a pseudonym), and at this moment, he is observing a glowing shop sign with the magnifying glass.
"Let's see if the murderer left any clues. There are no fingerprints on the surface of the material. It's made of high-quality acrylic!" he said.
This 25-year-old young man is selling light boxes in his live stream, which are used as illuminated signs for retail stores. TikTok and Instagram may not sound like places for business communication, but the videos made by Xiao Zhu with exaggerated accents from South America, Mexico, Thailand and China have attracted customers from the Americas, Europe and Africa. Some of them even visited his factory in China after watching the live stream.
Amid the back of a gradually recovering global economy, Chinese manufacturers are redoubling their efforts to secure more orders in the highly competitive export market. While most users watch online videos for entertainment, many factories are now also selling a wide range of products on these platforms, including electronic components, lighting products, and industrial chemicals. The widespread dissemination of short videos and recommendation algorithms has helped some factories find new business customers. Chinese purchasing agents (who help overseas buyers find suppliers) and factories in countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia are also promoting their goods on TikTok.
Xiao Zhu's current live-streaming format involves lip-syncing videos to promote factory products. He says that if the videos are too commercial, the audience reach will be low and the business generated will be minimal. But if the content is too funny, although there will be many views, it will deter potential customers. Therefore, the video content needs to strike a balance between entertainment and commerciality.
Xiao Zhu said that the company receives an average of one business inquiry for every 1,000 views on TikTok, and approximately 3% to 10% of these inquiries turn into orders.
In the past, Chinese manufacturers established connections with foreign customers through trade fairs, wholesale markets and purchasing agents. With the rise of e-commerce websites in the late 1990s, foreign importers and Chinese factories were able to connect through platforms such as Alibaba and Made-in-China.com. Factories spend tens of thousands of dollars on advertising on Alibaba each year.
Xiao Zhu said that both e-commerce websites and social media are important for the company's business growth. He majored in Business English at university and cultivated his English sense by watching Hollywood movies and playing video games like Grand Theft Auto. After working at an export service company, Xiao Zhu joined LC Sign, a sign manufacturer, as a salesperson in 2022.
His accent imitation was inspired by the comedians Russell Peters and Trevor Noah, who imitated the accents of India and South Africa in their performances.
Since his videos went viral at the end of 2023, LC Sign has gained approximately 445,000 followers on Instagram and 148,200 followers on TikTok. Zhu's boss made this star salesperson a partner in the sign company. Other factories also came to him asking for tips. Now, he can make videos full-time.
Xiao Tang (a pseudonym), 27 years old, makes short videos for her family's cardboard box factory in Guangdong. She said that she recently sent samples to a TikTok user in South Africa and made a deal with an Indian buyer who discovered her business through the videos she posted on WeChat.
Xiao Tang said that because short-video platforms have a huge young user base and powerful recommendation algorithms, her videos have been seen by people who truly need cardboard boxes, and the business clients she has come into contact with are also getting younger and younger.
"They might come across these videos after work and think, oh, I might need this product," she said.
Many small businesses are trying to replicate this funny sales model. A sweet potato processing factory in Hong'an County, Hubei Province, started posting videos on platforms such as X, YouTube and WeChat this year to attract foreign traders.
"To be or not to be, that is the question," said Han Dexiao, the factory owner, in a video. "To eat or not to eat, that's easy. And I choose to eat it all." As he spoke, he walked past row upon row of potato starch.
Xiao Han (a pseudonym), 51, said that the company has d an English website and opened a store on Alibaba, and believes that short videos can attract more customers. He said that young workers in the factory help him prepare English scripts and teach him how to pronounce.
"I'm worried that people won't understand what I say, but I think I can gradually learn to introduce my factory to foreign friends," he said.
Cover image source: Tuchong Creative
