US election paraphernalia: netizens' thumbs-up

As Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton battle it out for the front-door keys to the White House, it appears some Chinese manufacturers are even cashing in on the growing frenzy surrounding the once-every-four-year US election bandwagon.

Search the key word Trump on AliExpress, an online shopping site under Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, and as many as 546 results pop up, ranging from T-shirts with the Republican candidate's portrait, to badges, hats and flags emblazoned with his campaign slogan Make America Great Again.

Statistics provided by the site, which allows shoppers from around the world to buy small quantities of goods at wholesale prices, show the keywords Donald Trump have been used as a search 26,612 times on personal computers and mobile devices since early February.

"Hillary Clinton", however, has been searched just 3,888 times during the same period, with most purchases in both cases being made on home turf.

One US AliExpress buyer posted a photo of himself wearing a Trump T-shirt, with the feedback, "go Trump! Little small, but I luv it".

The Hillary items, it has to be said, are a little more feminine.

Apart from the routine unisex T-shirts, one Chinese manufacturer has even launched a Love Hillary 2016 bracelet. The most flattering feedback for that so far?: "Nice and cute".

AliExpress said hats are its best-sellers among both sets of supporters, followed by T-shirts, masks and flags.

A salesman surnamed Chen from Guangdong province-based XYL Metal Crafts Co Ltd said his firm has shipped around 5,000 Trump lapel pins to the US, for instance, mainly through Alibaba.com, a site dedicated to linking Chinese wholesalers with buyers around the world.

"We have no idea how the buyers are going to use the pins. But it's been good business for us," he said.

However, not all purchases represent loyal support for the respective candidates.

Qingdao Wellpaper Industrial Co Ltd said sales of its Donald Trump toilet paper have been rising rapidly since mid-February.

The product, branded Dump with Trump, is printed with the very man's pouting face on it.

"At the start, orders were for around 100 rolls a time, but now we're getting orders for 5,000 rolls," a saleswoman from the Shandong-based company said. She added her company has taken 50 orders for the Trump toilet paper.

There are Hillary versions of the customized loo roll too - but only around eight orders have been taken for those, she said.

mengjing@chinadaily.com.cn