You might never have heard of Yiwu,a city in east China's Zhejiang province, but are likely to be connected to it. From clothing to watches to pens, many products labelled "made in China" call this trade hub home. But Yiwu's reputation as the paradise of small commodities is now being threatened.

Yiwu city has been the largest trading center for small commodities, with yearly trading of more that 40 billion yuan. But due to the impact of the stronger yuan, it's become less attractive to overseas buyers.

Wu Guohua travels to Yiwu every year to place large orders for fashion accessories, and on-sells to Europe. But this year, his company is buying 20 percent less than usual.

The continuous appreciation of the yuan has caused a relative devaluation of foreign currencies. And that's forced Wu Guohua, as well as many other overseas businesses, to opt for smaller order volumes.

Wu Guohua, Dealer of Hong Kong said "Before we bought all our products here. But now we, split the order by purchasing 80 percent of goods from here, and the rest from other countries. "

With businesses becoming more cautious about their buying, products with unique and creative designs have become their favorites.

Overseas dealers say such innovative items will be given priority on their purchase lists.

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