SHANGHAI - China, the world's biggest toy exporter, saw its toy exports continue to grow in 2020 despite the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

China exported approximately $33.5 billion worth of toys in 2020, up 7.5 percent year-on-year, according to the China Toy & Juvenile Products Association.

Toy exports have continued to rise this year, with the export value hitting $5.02 billion in the first two months, up 96.8 percent compared with the same period last year.

China's toy exports have grown for five consecutive years since 2016. Despite being hindered by the COVID-19 epidemic in the first half of 2020, toy exports quickly picked up again as the epidemic waned and production resumed in the second half.

The United States maintained its position as the top importer of toys made in China last year, with exports to the United States rising 6.8 percent year-on-year to $8.57 billion, according to the association.

China's toy exports to markets including Japan, Singapore, Russia, the Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia all registered double-digit growth in 2020, with year-on-year growth in exports to Saudi Arabia surging to 67.8 percent.

Toy sales in the domestic market rose 2.6 percent year-on-year to 78 billion yuan ($11.9 billion) in 2020.

The association noted that the share of online sales continued to increase in the domestic market. In 2020, online toy sales reached 26.9 billion yuan, accounting for 34.5 percent of the total. Livestreaming has become a major channel for consumers to purchase toys.