In early autumn, the packing workshop of Zhaoxing Arts & Crafts Co., Ltd. in Linshu County, Linyi, Shandong Province, is filled with a warm and bustling atmosphere. Workers skillfully seal boxes and attach labels as a batch of brand-new willow-woven home products is fully prepared for shipment, soon to travel across the ocean to Walmart stores in the United States.
Looking at the more than one hundred overseas orders clearly displayed on his mobile phone screen, company general manager Zhu Chongshuai remains calm and confident. Few would have imagined that this distinctive industry, now exporting products overseas, was once trapped in the challenges of extensive growth. In the past, enterprises relied on manual record-keeping and verbal coordination. With thousands of orders having overlapping delivery schedules and complicated product categories, problems such as missed orders, delays and disconnected processes frequently occurred. “When there were too many orders, things could easily become chaotic. What we feared most was delaying overseas deliveries and losing major customers,” Zhu Chongshuai admitted. The traditional and inefficient management model once hindered the pace of willow weaving products entering international markets.
To overcome this bottleneck, in 2021, Zhaoxing Arts & Crafts invested RMB 1.6 million to independently develop the “Yunlian” order management mini program, equipping the thousand-year-old willow weaving craft with a “digital brain.” Today, the company has achieved full-process online visualization and dynamic coordination covering order processing, production scheduling, raw material procurement, workshop weaving, packaging and warehouse dispatch, as well as overseas shipment. Frontline workers can receive daily tasks and check progress directly on their mobile phones; packaging staff can monitor carton and auxiliary material inventories in real time, and directly coordinate with suppliers for replenishment when materials are insufficient, completely eliminating information barriers between different stages of production.
“The system coordinates and manages more than 1,000 domestic and overseas orders every year. Even during peak periods, when hundreds of orders are processed simultaneously, everything remains orderly,” Zhu Chongshuai explained. The digital transformation has effectively stabilized the company’s production rhythm, while further strengthening its reputation for overseas delivery performance and giving Linshu willow weaving increasing confidence to expand into international markets.
If digital transformation has improved efficiency and empowered the willow weaving industry, then product innovation and design upgrades are the “core keys” for Linshu willow weaving to deepen its presence in international markets.
At Linyi Ronghua Cultural Creative Rattan Decoration Co., Ltd., an ongoing transformation and renewal of traditional craftsmanship is taking place. “Simple willow strip weaving can no longer keep up with competition in the international market. We must integrate different materials, upgrade designs and continuously develop new product categories,” said Chairman Zhang Zhiquan, who understands the importance of innovation. The company has broken through the limitations of traditional craftsmanship by boldly innovating and combining willow strips with materials such as wood, iron and rattan. It has also deeply incorporated Yimeng cultural elements to create its own cultural creative brand, “Oula.” By closely following global colour trends and overseas folk patterns, the company launches an average of 2,000 new products each year and has accumulated more than 20,000 product categories, establishing a strong position in international markets through continuous innovation.
After thousands of years of heritage and half a century of international development, Linshu has become a true “Capital of Chinese Willow Weaving” and the “World Capital of Willow Weaving Craftsmanship.” Its products are exported to more than 80 countries and regions, including Europe, America, Japan and South Korea, with export volume accounting for more than 25% of China’s total willow weaving exports. In 2025, the total output value of Linshu County’s willow weaving industry reached RMB 2.805 billion, with export value reaching RMB 858 million.