Zhang Yu

JeniZhang13@163.com

STRONG business tailwinds are set to blow across Shenzhen, as some 1,600 quality suppliers, cross-border e-commerce platforms and service providers gather at the China (Shenzhen) Cross-border E-commerce Fair – Spring Edition in Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center in Bao’an District to showcase their latest products and services.

Merged with the postponed 2022 autumn edition, this year’s spring fair, which opened yesterday and will run until tomorrow, allows industry players to concentrate their resources under one roof and benefit from pent-up demand.

The fair is expecting over 100,000 visitors from across the country to keep abreast of the latest products and conduct sourcing activities in four halls across 80,000 square meters of exhibition space.

On the fair’s first day, the exhibition halls were already bustling with crowds and attracted many foreign visitors.

“The fair is good. There are many new products that we are looking for,” a Pakistani national identified as Shams told Shenzhen Daily yesterday.

Shams works for a trading company in Shenzhen, sourcing consumer goods such as electronic products and household items for clients in the U.K., the U.S., India, Australia and Germany.

“It’s the biggest fair I’ve seen or the biggest fair I’ve been to. China can give you anything you want. That’s what’s going through my head. You close your eyes and dream of something, you can find it,” said a Scotsman, who identified himself as Thomas. He added that all the vendors were very enthusiastic.

Bai Xueyan, a sales representative from Patent International Logistics (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., said she was overwhelmed by information requests. The Shenzhen-headquartered logistics company mainly provides international shipping and freight forwarding services.

“On the fair’s very first day, we received many potential customers. This is a good start for the year,” Bai said.

“I noticed that many businesses engaged in overseas warehousing services have come to the fair. We used to look for them, but now they are reaching out to us,” said Du Xiaowei, CEO of Shenzhen Fudeyuan Digital Technology Co. Ltd.

According to Du, a complete industrial chain has formed in Shenzhen thanks to the government’s support, and the city’s advantages in logistics and efforts in incubating cross-border e-commerce businesses.

Some of the key exhibitors include e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, ebay, Alibaba.com, Lazada, Tmall & Taobao Overseas, AliExpress, and cross-border service providers such as Bank of China, Google and Standard Chartered Bank.

According to the city’s commerce bureau, the volume of Shenzhen cross-border e-commerce was expected to exceed 180 billion yuan (US$26.1 billion) in 2022, an increase of about 130 billion yuan compared with 2021. Meanwhile, Shenzhen is home to four national e-commerce demonstration bases.