Show Review

Over 30,000 buyers source the latest gifts & home products at the April China Sourcing Fair

The April China Sourcing Fair: Gifts & Home Products (April 20-23, 2008) concluded successfully at Hong Kong's AsiaWorld-Expo. The four-day event attracted 30,826 buyers from all over the world to see the latest gifts & home products from China and Asia.

The China Sourcing Fair is one of Asia's major sourcing events for gifts & home products. It is well-known for the high participation of China suppliers all gathered in convenient Hong Kong, offering buyers a direct sourcing channel for the latest China-made products.

The fair was co-located with the China Sourcing Fair: Baby & Children's Products, another unique trade show also organized by Global Sources. With two shows held at the same time and venue, buyers were able to see new and creative designs of gifts & home products as well as baby & children's products under one roof.

This April, the two fairs brought together over 3,300 booths of quality suppliers from 18 countries and regions. Suppliers from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, the Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore, Australia, Germany, Israel, Japan, UK, France, Indonesia, Thailand, Bangladesh and USA were at the shows with their latest products.

The four-day events garnered attention from the trade. Representatives from JW Marriott, Lane Crawford, Mercedes Benz, OfficeMax, Perrier, Polo Ralph Lauren, Raymond Geddes, Samsonite, Swarovski and more visited the shows for new sourcing ideas.

Buyers saw a wide variety of products
The Gifts & Home Products fair featured a comprehensive range of product categories. They were presented as different product for easy sourcing. Visiting buyers could see new designs of Gifts & premiums, Kitchen & household products, Home décor & home textiles, Glassware & tableware, Arts & crafts, Basketware, Garden & outdoor, Stationery & paper products and Sports & leisure.

What's more, two new product pavilions for Gift boxes and Photo frames were added this April to answer the growing market demand for these products. Together with the Brand Zone and the country and region pavilions, the fair's zoning arrangement enabled buyers to source more efficiently at the 70,000-sqm exhibition venue.

With a huge product range, many buyers found the fair worth visiting. Among them is Italian buyer Carlo Negri from the import department of Bottega Verde. "The fair is very interesting. First of all, it is quite a big fair with a lot of suppliers, and then it covers also different kinds of goods that we are interested in — from gifts to tableware and ceramics. The range of products is quite wide," he said.

Bottega Verde is a cosmetics company and Nergi said that they found some suitable items from China suppliers at the fair. "We source all promotional items and cosmetic accessories. In half an hour [at the fair], I already found several good things. I expect to find a lot," he said.

Australian buyer Martin Bailey from Bhf Transport Pty Ltd also shared the same view. "It's my first time at the show. It is very good and very exciting. You find a lot of different products. I didn't expect to see many products here. I thought it's mainly arts and crafts, but it's really good as I found a lot of new products here that I didn't think of seeing."

Buyers met quality suppliers from China & Asia
Another attraction making the fair unique from other trade shows in the region is the large participation of export-ready China suppliers.

Many buyers visited the show with the primary objective of developing new business contacts with China suppliers. French buyer Dennis Le Henaff from OMF said, "China is important for our business, as everything is made in China now. If you're an importer and if you don't work with China for gift products, you cannot exist."

Henaff visits Hong Kong regularly to source new products. Each time he comes to Hong Kong, he relies on the China Sourcing Fair to develop his first contacts. "We chose to visit [this fair] first because it's very convenient and because it's a really large and important fair with many suppliers," he said.

Apart from China suppliers, the fair also featured a significant number of suppliers from Asia. These suppliers came from well-known markets such as Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as newly-emerging markets like India and Bangladesh, presenting a strong exhibition profile to attract buyers to the show.

An effective trading platform
While many buyers left with a good impression of the China Sourcing Fair, suppliers also found the fair effective to develop their export businesses and expand their overseas sales network.

"We met a lot of new customers here, and found many of our old customers at this fair. We met over 30 buyers on the first day. More than 20 sat down and had discussion with us. Among them, 60% are international buyers, mostly from Europe and the US. Almost 90% match our target prospects," sales manager of Guangheng Industrial Co Ltd Manufacturer and Exporter, Violet Yu, said.

HASA Vietnam Arts & Crafts from Vietnam was able to meet many new buyers at the fair. Assistant manager Nguyen Huu Liem was glad with the result. "Many customers come to see us, and they are interested in our products, and asked for samples to place orders later. For the first day, from morning up to now, we have had more than 22 customers. They come from the USA, Austria, Australia and also other countries."

Buyers benefited from special onsite programs
Apart from meeting quality suppliers, some buyers took advantage of the special onsite programs offered at the fair for more efficient sourcing. This April, the Brand Zone highlighted five suppliers who are eager to promote their own B2C and B2B brands. The New Product Gallery in hall 11 showcased some of the creative designs from selected exhibitors, giving buyers an idea of what's hot for the next season.

Meanwhile, the hugely-popular free Conference Program continued to feature interesting topics on import/export negotiating techniques, intellectual property rights, customs regulations and product trends.

The unique "Ask the Experts" services expanded this April with more sessions to answer the huge demand from buyers. Buyers have a chance to meet industry experts for a free 10-minute personalized, professional advice to their import questions.

World-class exhibition venue facilitates efficient sourcing
The China Sourcing Fair was held at AsiaWorld-Expo. Buyers found the location convenient, easy to access and with unparalleled support service. Many pre-registered buyers from downtown Hong Kong used the free train tickets provided by organizer Global Sources for a 28-minute comfortable ride to the venue. Other buyers took the free shuttle buses, which were available from many convenient locations in Hong Kong and Kowloon, to the show.

Meanwhile, many buyers came straight to the fair from the airport as soon as they arrived in Hong Kong. They enjoyed free luggage transfer service to AsiaWorld-Expo and took the one-minute trip to the show venue via Airport Express trains.

See you soon in Dubai and Hong Kong
The highly-efficient sourcing atmosphere at the China Sourcing Fair proved the show to be one of the premier sourcing events in Asia. The next China Sourcing Fair: Gifts & Home Products will be held June 9-11, 2008 at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre in Dubai, UAE. Meanwhile, the fair will again be held in Hong Kong this fall from October 20 to 23 at AsiaWorld-Expo.

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