Han Ximin

    ximhan@126.com

    INNOVATIVE and original products on display in Hall 4 at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center during the on-going 23rd China (Shenzhen) International Toy and Gift Fair brought delight and aroused curiosity among visitors.

    Movie fans of Walt Disney Pictures and Marvel Comics easily found their favorite cartoon characters and superheroes such as Iron Man, Captain America, and the Hulk. Spiderman and X-men were at the booth for Shanghai Chengyu Trading Co. Ltd. The company displayed a wide range of items, toys and cartoon characters from Walt Disney, Marvel and Star Wars movies at the city’s bi-annual gift fair.

    “This item, featuring popular characters, actually serves as a speaker and a USB with two interfaces that can connect Android phones and computers. It is also a mobile battery,” Allen Zhang, a manager with the company, said in an interview after the opening of the gift fair Saturday as he displayed one of his products. The company, the sole agent for the products made in Taiwan, mainly targets male and teenage customers.

    “The prices for these specially designed USBs are priced at no more than 200 yuan (US$32.31). They make great gifts thanks to their trendy design,” said Zhang.

    People usually breathe on their hands when they feel cold. Inspired by this action, Shenzhen Stylepie Lifestyle Co. Ltd. made this a hand warmer with a creative blow-control function. The product won a nomination at the 2014 Red Dot Good Design Awards.

    “This would make a sweet gift for friends and sweethearts, especially in winter or when temperatures drop. Just hold it and breathe on it and the warmer will start work for a while to give you double-sided warmth. It can also be used as a backup battery when necessary,” Liu Qiuhong, a sales manager for the company, explained.

    The company also brought its gravity control desk clock to the fair.

    “Inspired by a jelly cup, this lovely clock brings direct and pure happiness to kids and makes every morning fun,” Liu said.

    With just a gentle push, the snooze function will start and the clock will roll back thanks to gravity. If you place the clock face down, it will shut off the alarm.

    The design won a 2014 Red Dot Good Design Award in the category of household goods.

    Dmitri Slavutsky, managing director of Germany’s Venkon GmbH, who attended the ongoing Canton Fair in Guangzhou, made a one-day trip to Shenzhen to seek business opportunities at the gift fair.

    “The fair is a source market for our procurement, and we do hope to find more business opportunities importing gift products from China,” said Slavutsky, whose company’s trade volume with China reaches 2 million euros (US$2.17 million) a year. For this trip, he plans to connect with glass and cup makers, and those with innovative designs are preferred.

    Covering an exhibition area of 115,000 square meters and having 3,600 exhibitors from a wide range of sectors, including kitchenware, consumer electronics and stationery, the four-day gift fair, which ends tomorrow, is said to be the biggest of its kind in China.

    The fair is held every April and October.