Soccer fans are frequently seen waving colorful flags to support their favorite teams at the ongoing 2018 FIFA World Cup matches in Russia. Among the various flags, about 5 million of them were manufactured by a local enterprise in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province.

Qingdao Wonderfulflag Co Ltd has been a flag supplier for the FIFA World Cup six times in a row since 1998.

"We began to rush out the flag orders just after all 32 teams qualified for the World Cup last November," said Zhang Xiaojun, a production manager for the company.

"To date, more than 5.1 billion flags have been manufactured and shipped to Russia," Zhang said, adding that after the ongoing World Cup entered the knockout stage, they received additional orders, accelerated the manufacturing process and transported the flags by air.

What's more, the Qingdao-based company has been one of the authorized providers for world-renowned professional soccer competitions such as the German Bundesliga, FA Premier League and UEFA Champions League as well as four major North American professional sports leagues.

The company also provides propaganda flags for national days and presidential campaigns in countries such as the United States, Canada and Malaysia.

"Our flags are colorfast and soft," said Xiao Chang'ai, general manger for the company, " We have good relationships with our foreign partners and have received praise for our good-quality products."

According to local official Hu Baoxin, the company will launch a sportswear program by the end of this year, with an investment of 120 million yuan ($18 million).

The program will use nanometer technology, introduce high-end fully automatic assembly lines from Germany and build digitalized plants, Hu said.