Export value of eyewear from China 2019-2024

In the first half of 2024, China exported approximately 3.94 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 the first ten months of 2023, China supplied the United States with eyewear worth 1.2 billion U.S. dollars, the most among its export markets. 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 period, the export value of eyewear from China to ASEAN reached around 546 million U.S. dollars, showing a more than eight percent increase compared to the year prior.