Export value of eyewear from China 2019-2022

In 2022, China exported approximately 7.42 billion U.S. dollars’ worth of eyewear, showing a continuous increase since the last four years. Among all eyewear products, eyeglasses were the most exported category from China.

Eyewear production in China

With its low labor costs, abundant resources, and strong infrastructure, China remains the world's largest producer of optical and eyewear. A large portion of China's eyewear production is located in its coastal region. Danyang, a thousand-square-kilometer small city in Jiangsu Province, accounts for nearly three quarters of China's eyeglasses production and half of global glasses production.

Export destinations of Chinese eyewear

In 2022, China supplied the United States with eyewear worth 1.5 billion U.S. dollars, representing approximately 70 percent of its total eyewear imports. While traditional destinations such as the U.S. and European Union still accounted for a large share of Chinese spectacle exports, new destinations such as ASEAN showed great promise for growth. In the same year, the export value of eyewear from China to ASEAN reached around 640 million U.S. dollars, showing a more than 50 percent increase compared to the year prior.