Hello! Welcome to this edition of CBN Friday Special. I’m Stephanie Li.
Without the national team to support, Chinese soccer fans are rallying behind this year's FIFA World Cup mascot instead.
An array of products made in China, from stadiums and souvenirs to new energy vehicles was unveiled on the global stage, with the 2022 FIFA World Cup kicking off last Sunday in Qatar, marking another year of Chinese brands marching massively in the feast of football competition.
It is also the first time a Chinese company has built a World Cup venue, and the Lusail Stadium is featured on the new 10-riyal banknote of Qatar.
But what has drawn the most attention among Chinese fans is probably the official mascot for the event — La'eeb, a cutesy kaffiyeh-inspired figure whose name means “super-skilled player” in Arabic. But Chinese fans have affectionately dubbed the mascot the "wonton wrapper" because of its resemblance to the food.
The unique mascot has unexpectedly become popular among Chinese soccer fans, with videos and pictures of people cosplaying the mascot appearing on Chinese social media, and someone even dressing up their cats as the mascot.
The mascot, based on the traditional Arab male headdress, not only adds a lovely element to the World Cup, but also makes more people around the world know more about the traditional Arab culture.
La’eeb is the official mascot and the inspiration behind the tournament's souvenirs. La’eeb may be an idea born in the Middle East, but the family of souvenirs grew up here in the Chinese industrial town of Dongguan.
Guangdong Cheche Cultural Development, based in Dongguan, a traditional manufacturing hub in Guangdong, has obtained authorization for global distribution and manufacture of the official mascot of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, including plush toys, hats, three-dimensional crystal key chains, torches and resin lamps.
It took the company eight revisions to win the approval of the organizing committee and FIFA for designing and manufacturing the mascot.
Dongguan-based companies have actually become regular participants of the world's largest sports events. For the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games there were at least 10 enterprises from Dongguan that won business orders from the organizers, covering many fields from badges, footwear and clothing to power supply systems.
According to statistics from the local customs, Dongguan's export of toys increased 20.5 percent year-on-year to reach 29.4 billion yuan in the first three quarters of 2022, with the exports of sports goods and equipment hitting 6.77 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 19.6 percent.
Nearly 200 categories of products related to the 2022 World Cup are made in Dongguan, displaying the city's strength in manufacturing, according to the local government.
In addition to producing replica trophies of the 2022 World Cup, Dongguan Wagon Giftware also produces the event's souvenirs including decorations of the emblem and a series of keychains.
The company, which has obtained approval of global distribution and manufacturing for official World Cup merchandise for 28 consecutive years, started to take orders to produce the current event's related products in October last year.
It is estimated that the company's sales during the event will increase significantly, after its sales of more than 50 categories of products generated about 200 million yuan in revenue during the event four years ago, according to the company.
The adoration toward the mascot has also made a Qatari youngster a social media sensation in China.
During the live broadcast of the FIFA World Cup opening match between Qatar and Ecuador, footage of a young Qatari football fan disappointed with his team’s performance went viral on Chinese social media.
Many netizens compared the teen’s appearance to the official mascot La’eeb and called him the “wonton wrapper prince”, while others even drew cartoons of him and turned his facial expressions into memes.
While not confirmed, the teen’s name is Abdulrahman Fahad al-Thani, who is believed to be a member of the Qatari royal family based on his family name, according to an interview conducted with China’s state-owned broadcaster CCTV, who said Cristiano Ronaldo is his favorite player.
Fully embracing his newfound fame, the “wonton wrapper prince” opened an account on Douyin and posted a video expressing his gratitude for the love he received from the Chinese people. In just three days, the Qatari prince gained over 14 million followers on the short video platform. Apart from Douyin, he also opened an official Weibo account on November 30, garnering 215,000 followers in just one day.
北京时间11月21日0点，2022卡塔尔世界杯揭幕战将正式打响。世界杯“随处可见的中国元素”——从场馆、裁判、周边商品、赞助商到“最萌使者”大熊猫，“如满天繁星，在这届世界杯大放光彩。”
比如，在卡塔尔里亚尔纸币上，印着由法纳尔灯笼和椰枣碗两项传统阿拉伯艺术元素构成的造型，这是卡塔尔规模最大的体育场——卢塞尔体育场。这座将举办2022卡塔尔世界杯决赛的体育场，正是由中国铁建国际集团承建，中方参建人员超千人。
有人说，在绿茵场上滚动的不是足球，而是黄金。作为疫情后世界足球的第一次盛会，这场国际赛事将给中国企业抢抓全球体育经济复苏机遇、参与体育产业分工带来新契机。
公开消息显示，在卡塔尔的世界杯官方专卖店中，60%的商品由中国生产。这其中，就有东莞企业和东莞制造的身影。
今年，东莞玮光获得全球唯一官方授权生产限量版“大力神杯”资格。而该企业与体育赛事结缘，最早要追溯到1994年美国世界杯期间，东莞玮光通过贸易商接单，成为世界杯周边商品的生产代工厂。目前，东莞玮光已经连续28年获得FIFA世界杯足球赛官方商品全球经销、制造、授权资格。
实际上，以制造业立市的东莞，多年来一直活跃在各大国际赛事上。以2008年北京奥运会为例，彼时东莞有不下10家企业获得奥运订单，其中包括玮光、琪胜鞋业、易事特等，囊括了奥运会赛事徽章、鞋服、电源系统等多个领域，东莞制造在全球逐步打响。
在这些“东莞制造”的世界杯周边产品中，尤其以“会飞的馄饨皮”——吉祥物拉伊卜最受民众欢迎，世界杯开幕伊始就在各大社交媒体刷屏。在阿拉伯语中，拉伊卜意为“技艺高超的球员”，其设计灵感来自于卡塔尔人的传统服饰。
不同于往届世界杯吉祥物的活体形象，卡塔尔世界杯吉祥物“拉伊卜”看起来像是一块白色的布料，让人联想到阿拉伯人常戴的头巾。“拉伊卜”的形象设计，取材于阿拉伯传统服饰中的包头巾（kaffiyeh），包头巾一角卷起包裹成了吉祥物“拉伊卜”的脑袋，并且细致地带上了头箍。头箍的黑色与“拉伊卜”，和极具中东风情的浓眉黑眼呼应，让人生动感受到中东地域特色和人文风情。组委会还适时推出了吉祥物“吃喝玩乐”表情包，更是让球迷直呼“萌化了”。
萌归萌，但如何让“无手无脚”的拉伊卜“站”起来？如何在毛绒工艺中体现拉伊卜飞翔的动态？这是生产厂商面临的最大两个问题。
作为卡塔尔世界杯组委会的供应商之一，广东车车文化发展有限公司负责2022卡塔尔世界杯吉祥物拉伊卜的二次开发，设计和生产吉祥物毛绒玩具、帽子、3D水晶钥匙扣、手办，以及树脂灯等官方纪念品。
在厂商将拉伊卜做成实物前，它只存在于卡塔尔王室手中的2D设计稿中。如何把它做成实物，“非常困难、有很高的技术难度”，该厂商负责人陈雷刚这样表示。拉伊卜最大的特点是样式简单，而制作难点也在于此。因为一旦控制不好毛绒玩具的面部表情和姿势细节，拉伊卜就成了一块布。
最终，经过深入研究，该厂商在玩具内部加装小布袋，充入棉花拉紧，拉伊卜便拥有了鼻子，五官也立体了起来，为毛绒玩具“注入了灵魂”。根据卡塔尔世界杯组委会的意见又进行了8次修改后，该厂家在全球30多个设计团队中拔得头筹，在今年正式获得卡塔尔世界杯组委会的验收和批准生产。
陈雷刚回忆称，“得到批准的那一刻，就好像我们企业拿到了世界杯主办权一样开心。”
多年来，东莞积极竞逐全球体育经济浪潮，并且如今已不再只局限于生产环节，而朝着“东莞智造”和“东莞创造”迈进，进而在全球舞台上展示着以科技创新和先进制造为代表的东莞新形象。
为助力东莞制造顺利出口，黄埔海关所属东莞海关积极落实跨境贸易便利化措施，优化全链条全流程监管服务，帮助企业货物快速通关。据东莞海关统计，今年前三季度，东莞市出口玩具294.1亿元，同比增长20.5%；出口体育用品及设备67.7亿元，同比增长19.6%。
值得一提的是，不仅东莞制造的“飞天馄饨皮”火出圈，世界杯开幕战观众席上那位神似吉祥物的“小王子”也被网友做成动图在社交媒体上热传。
当时，由于卡塔尔队在场上表现不佳，观众席上的球迷神情都比较失望，而那位“小王子”情绪激动地站起来，自言自语地表达不满的样子，配合他的打扮，竟与拉伊卜神奇撞脸！喜欢“二创”的中国网友，立刻将这一幕做成了各种搞笑视频和表情包。
据央视频专访，这位已经在国内多个社交平台实名认证的“拉伊卜小王子”真名叫做阿卜杜勒拉赫曼·法赫德·阿勒萨尼，经过媒体查证后是卡塔尔前商贸部部长法赫德·贾西姆·阿勒萨尼的儿子，相信是卡塔尔王室旁支的成员。
在千里之外的中国意外爆红后，“小王子”也没闲着，专门录视频，感谢中国网友热情友好的评论和有趣的视频。11月27日中午，他以“拉伊卜小王子”的名字入驻抖音平台，一上线就获得了不小的关注度，不到一天粉丝量已经突破1000万。开通抖音号的同一天，他也开通了微博账号，还登上了热搜，目前粉丝量已超过23万，微博话题#卡塔尔小王子入驻微博#阅读量接近450万，短短数日吸粉无数。
Executive Editor: Sonia YU
Editor: HE Jia
Host: Stephanie LI
Writer: Stephanie LI
Sound Editor: Stephanie LI
Graphic Designer: ZHENG Wenjing, LIAO Yuanni
Produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News.
Presented by SFC
编委: 于晓娜
策划：李艳霞
编辑：和佳
播音：李莹亮
撰稿：李莹亮
音频制作：李莹亮
设计：郑文静、廖苑妮
21世纪经济报道海外部 制作
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