Shandong village stitches together a better future online

Sun Zhiguo is bracing for a busy month ahead. His online shop just received an order of 30,000 Santa Claus costumes from Thailand, for which his staff is working extra hours to guarantee delivery before Christmas.

"The quality of my products is second to none, and we are seeing an impressive growth of foreign orders," the 33-year-old says.

After spending seven years in Brazil selling petty commodities, Sun returned to his home village of Sunzhuang in Caoxian county of Heze city, East China's Shandong province, in 2015, when e-commerce started to boom in China's rural areas.

Inspired by relatives and neighbors, Sun initiated his garment business on Taobao, a major e-commerce site of internet giant Alibaba, committed to making quality goods and improving the livelihood of his family.

Things went unexpectedly well. In 2019, the turnover of Sun's shop reached 5 million yuan ($750,000).The business-savvy risk-taker now has his eye on Brazil's costume market, where carnivals are often celebrated with hundreds of thousands of revelers in colorful outfits.