Annual output of the toy sector in Chenghai now exceeds 50 billion yuan ($7 billion), with exports of toys and gifts last year growing by 33 percent year-on-year to 14 billion yuan, according to commerce authorities.

"The increased industrial value and exports are mainly driven by intensified efforts in technological innovation, which eventually help raise the added value of toy products," said Wang Chubin, Party chief of Chenghai.

Since the beginning of this year, the toy and gift industry in Chenghai has achieved a good performance in areas including research and development capability, cultural creativity, production processes, digitalization and cross-border e-commerce, said Xiao Yimian, deputy director of the Shantou Municipal Bureau of Commerce.

In the first four months, Chenghai's exports of toys and gifts increased 5.9 percent year-on-year to 3.75 billion yuan, said local Customs.

"Continuous improvements in technological innovation play an important role in increasing the added value of the toy and gift industry," said Xiao.

Inside Shantou Gooders Precision Technology Co, a professional manufacturer of building blocks, intelligent and automated facilities are equipped along production lines, leaving only a small number of workers for operational assistance.

"Equipment of advanced facilities has greatly changed the traditional labor-intensive manufacturing of toys. After introducing standard production of general building block components, we are now able to realize automation and intelligence in manufacturing," said Du Xiaoke, general manager of the company.

Various highly-detailed toy models such as cars, ships and spaceships can be assembled with building blocks, Du said. The company produces more than 10 billion granular building blocks each year, with the size differential between blocks reaching as little as 0.02 millimeters.

"The increased production capacity depends heavily on modern, dust-free, high-speed automation and precision equipment in the factory," said Du.

To promote high-quality development of the toy and gift sector, local authorities have introduced a series of incentives to help companies in digital transformation and technological upgrading.

According to Guo Pengcheng, deputy director of the Shantou Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, more than 100 toy manufacturers in Chenghai have realized digital transformation by introducing intelligent and automated facilities since 2023.

A high-tech toy innovation center has also been launched in Chenghai, aiming to offer public services for technological innovation in the toy and gift industry.

"We are offering one-stop services in the fields of animation, structure, content, intelligence, intellectual property, brand building and testing," said Chen Feng, general manager of the Chenghai Science and Technology Innovation Center.