Exhibitions, face-to-face meetings help Chinese enterprises better understand foreign demand, close deals

After returning from the Spring Fair Birmingham 2023, Zeng Wei stands in front of a sofa prototype, ordered by a British client, in a workshop owned by Henglin Home Furnishings Co Ltd in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. Zeng, head of the company's sales department, is busy with several designers and workers discussing the details of the sofa's new functions.

The fair in Birmingham, England, is a major wholesale home and gifts trade exhibition held in early February. The grand event attracted Chinese exporters from Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Hunan and Guangdong provinces to set up booths to promote sales and build new business relationships.

"Big orders must be gained from face-to-face talks. We specially prepared more than 10 new products for the UK exhibition this time and plan to visit key clients in Germany, France and Italy in the first half of 2023," said Zeng, adding that the company, with more than 4,500 employees, has set a goal of raising its annual export value to the European markets by 20 percent on a yearly basis this year.

After 270 entrepreneurs from Guangdong province brought back $1 billion worth of intended orders after participating in the 13th China HomeLife Dubai 2022 expo in the United Arab Emirates in December, companies from Jiangsu province secured 20 billion yuan ($2.92 billion) of foreign trade orders via participating in various overseas trade fairs between January and early February, according to these provinces' departments of commerce.

To further ease pressure caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the disruption of global supply chains, boosting their presence at international exhibitions, such as the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show in the United States and the 72nd edition of the Nuremberg International Toy Fair in Germany, and expanding market channels in emerging markets will be priorities for China's export-oriented companies to drive growth this year, said Wei Jianguo, vice-chairman of the Beijing-based China Center for International Economic Exchanges.

"Many Chinese exporters are eager to retrieve orders lost in the past three years. Expos help to better understand foreign countries' latest demand and growth potential, as well as find new channels for foreign trade," said Wei.

Similar views were shared by Xie Weihong, dean of the School of Economics at the Guangdong University of Technology. "Companies are acutely aware that without orders, there is no revenue. They will not be able to invest in research and development, and this situation could lead their businesses to a dead end."

Therefore, exporters must have face-to-face interactions with foreign clients, particularly for firms whose business is clothing, foodstuffs and industrial parts. Not all export deals can be sealed via cross-border e-commerce channels, he said.

Given China's swift policy shift in COVID-19 management, Luo Junjie, executive vice-president of the Beijing-based China Machinery Industry Federation, said rather than waiting for foreign trade orders to flow in, the majority of Chinese manufacturers from sectors, including new energy vehicles, electrical appliances, petrochemical equipment and construction machinery, have been rushing to book booths in overseas business exhibitions this year, before and after the Chinese New Year holiday in late January.