Gulf Construction Online - China trade fair growing in popularity

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Visitors at a previous fair

China trade fair growing in popularity

01 May 2012

NOW in its sixth year, China Sourcing Fair 2012 in Dubai is continuing to provide a platform for regional traders to meet a large selection of Chinese suppliers.

The fair, to be held this month (May 29 to 31) at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC), in Dubai, UAE is the largest China-products exhibition in the Middle East, a region that imports a significant amount of products from China.

Organised in different parts of the world including Hong Kong, India and South Africa, in addition to Dubai, the events have one focus: to provide buyers with direct access to a large number of suppliers from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The Dubai show featured exhibitors who produce consumer electronics, gifts and premiums, home products, garments and textiles, children’s products, and hardware and building materials.

Wong ... “trade is booming”.

“Dubai’s trade with China is booming,” said Tommy Wong, president of Global Sources Exhibitions, the parent firm of the organiser. “Six successful years of China Sourcing Fair in Dubai is representative of that growth.”

In line with this growing demand for its products, China’s suppliers are quickly adapting to new trends such as environmentfriendly products.

Shengyang Chen, general manager at Zhejiang Ruiming Energy-saving Doors and Windows, said: “Energy-efficient doors and windows are our specialty. We feel our products can match the builders’ new focus on green technologies.

We see the hardware and building materials section of the China Sourcing Fair as an opportunity to meet new buyers from the Middle East and to help them meet demands in this regard.”

According to the organiser Global Sources, Dubai was the most logical choice for a venue five years ago. The emirate is only next to Hong Kong and Singapore as the world’s third-largest re-export market.

“Our aim in holding the show in Dubai is to stay closer to buyers in the Mena region and also because much of the region’s international trade passes through the city. It is centrally located, has a strong multicultural business community, and has an international trade focus,” says Bill Janeri, general manager of Global Sources.

China is the first stop for traders, buyers, distributors and purchasing teams from large-scale, multinational retailers, throughout the Mena region as it has become a benchmark for price and quality, he said.

According to Janeri, in many regional markets, the product distribution systems have become more sophisticated and they are making a transition from ‘mom and pop’ shops to networks of world-class retail outlets on par with international standards. To fill those shelves, importers and purchasing managers are looking to China for products that are well made and priced in such a way that the retailer has more flexibility with the margin.

“Many of the exhibitors at our China Sourcing Fairs have been exporting globally for years – and for some of them, decades, manufacturing products for some of the world’s leading companies. As part of the fair in Dubai, these companies will hope to expand their reach by meeting new buyers,” he said.

China Sourcing Fair: Hardware & Building Materials is open to importers, wholesalers, retailers and buyers in the industry looking for the latest and upcoming products from China.

Some of the quality and low-cost products from the Chinese suppliers are: building materials, general hardware, flooring, ceiling, roofing materials, wall cladding and coverings, windows and doors, bathroom and kitchen supplies, plumbing, heating and cooling supplies, tools and accessories, industrial safety and law enforcement equipment, lawn and garden accessories, lighting and electrical fixtures and fittings.