The recent pickup in overseas demand came too late for Christmas orders. But while lamenting a lost season, the hundreds of traders in the small-commodity bazaar in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, said they were holding their hopes high for the spring-buying season, which will begin in earnest after the National Day holiday.

Lounging in her store in the airport-sized building, Jin Xianjuan recounted the many anxious weeks in early summer as she waited for the seasonal flood of orders that never came.

Jin, who has been in the export business for more than 10 years, said it was the worst time she has ever experienced.