Canton Fair tailored negotiation platform for textile enterprises
——Interview with Huang Changjie of China Foreign Trade Center

The China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, is a comprehensive international trade event with the highest level, the largest scale, the most complete variety of goods, the largest number of buyers attending the fair, the largest number of participating countries and the best turnover in China, and has the reputation of "the first exhibition in China".

As the largest foreign trade platform in China, the Canton Fair has attracted buyers and exhibitors from all over the world.Textiles and clothing, an essential part of consumer goods, is also one of the most active categories in the Canton Fair.

In addition to holding offline fairs in Guangzhou in spring and autumn twice every year, online events are also provided for suppliers to display and promote their products.At the end of July, the Trade Bridge 134th Canton Fair Global Matchmaking Events textile and clothing series of activities ended successfully.For this reason,we interviewed Huang Changjie who work at China Foreign Trade Center, to see something outstanding highlights of this textile and clothing event.

CT: Can you give us a brief introduction of this online matchmaking event?

Huang Changjie:In order to enhance the progression of the Canton Fair trade platform, assist national enterprises’ foreign trade to maintain stability and improve quality, serve local opening up and economic development, and help enterprises to seize orders and expand markets, China Foreign Trade Center has planned and held Trade Bridge 134th Canton Fair Global Matchmaking Events.Nearly 10 product categories such as textile raw materials and fabrics,clothing accessories and accessories, household textiles, underwear,men's and women's wear, children's wear, sportswear and casual wear were covered, and 24 professional buyers from 8 countries including Kazakhstan, Russia, Tanzania, Germany and Belgium could be negotiated with nearly 70 suppliers from more than 10 provinces including Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Fujian with the form of one-to-one negotiation mode.The intended purchase amount exceeds $21 million.

CT: Are there any domestic and foreign manufacturers and buyers participated in the event? What technologies and trends of textiles and garments are favored by buyers?

Huang Changjie:We selected nearly 10 product categories,such as textile raw materials and fabrics, clothing and accessories,household textiles, underwear, men's and women's wear, children's wear, sportswear and casual wear.The buyers include importers and exporters, e-commerce companies and fashion designers, while the sellers include Shanghai Mercury Home Textiles Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Textiles Group, Guangdong Foreign Trade Import & Export Co., Ltd.and many other industry leaders.

In the event, we found that the features of textiles and clothing "technology, fashion and green" were favored.Fuzhou Anwang Trading Co., Ltd.is a modern and innovative export enterprise, specializing in the production of sports underwear, leggings, brassieres and other seamless products.Staffwho work in the company told us that the company's environmentally-friendly yarns and fabrics have received a great sense of attention from many buyers in Europe and South America.

CT: Adopted one-to-one mode, what efforts have you made for this in the preparation process?

Huang Changjie:Before the textile and garment special event was held, we carefully planned and collected the purchasing demand, communicated with trading group and organized domestic and foreign enterprises to register.After several rounds of sifting and matching, the matchmaking name list is finally determined.After that, we held a special training meeting to test the equipment and network, and arranged the matchmaking process in detail.During the event, we orderly arranged one buyer and one supplier to enter the online meeting room for "one-toone" precise negotiation, effectively protecting the trade secrets of both suppliers and purchasers.The negotiation time is generally less than 20 minutes, and suppliers are able to show their corporate image and main products in the room for displaying products or at the booth of the Canton Fair.Both the supplier and the purchaser can talk about the product characteristics, certification, materials, packaging design, order quantity, payment terms and other contents related to the substantive transaction.We also arranged staffto coordinate and presided over the whole process, record the negotiation, and provided translators as needed to ensure their smooth talks.After the event, we also do a back-visiting to both sides through telephone, email, questionnaire and other methods to collect their feelings and gains so as to accumulate experience for future activities.

CT: Do you obtain any feedback from both buyers and sellers during the event?

Huang Changjie:According to our preliminary understanding, both suppliers and suppliers affirmed the effectiveness of the event and expressed their gratitude to the Canton Fair for organizing the Trade Bridge promotion event.Canton Fair has always been an important procurement platform for multinational corporations.Especially, "Trade Bridge" matchmaking events focus on specific industries and build a "tailormade" negotiation and transaction platform for the majority of exhibitors and multinational corporations.

Russia X5 Group is the Top20 retailer in the world and the largest retail group in Russia.Chen Jingyuan, the general manager of China District of the Import Division of the Group, joined hands with a team of professional buyers to participate in online negotiations with 15 high-quality suppliers in China.Chen Jingyuan expressed gratitude to Canton Fair for its strong support all the time, and expressed satisfaction with the thoughtful arrangement of the Foreign Trade Center.He also said that the suppliers provided by the Canton Faire were very in line with their purchasing needs,and cotton-padded jacket, overalls, ski pants and other commodities are planned to be purchased from two Fujian enterprises, with a total purchase amount exceeding 2.6 million yuan.

Cool Bro's in Kyrgyzstan is a company that provides purchasing services for fabrics and accessories in the market.It is the largest chain clothing factory in Central Asia.It has more than 1,500 employees and produces over 50,000 products every day, including children's wear, jackets, women's wear and underwear.Daniar, the procurement director of the company,said that the reputation of the enterprises participating in the Canton Fair is trustworthy, and their products are varied, with good quality and competitive price.

Domestic suppliers have also brought positive feedback.“The event was very meaningful.Participating in this event, we can not only talk business directly with customers, but also get first-hand information about the local market.We hope to have another chance to participate in the future.” Staffwho work in Shanghai Mercury Home Textiles said.Fuzhou Hengjue Clothing Co.,Ltd said that the Canton Fair has saved a lot of time and efforts for both buyers and suppliers.They hope to have more opportunities to participate in this form of event and obtain foreign trade orders in the future.

Textile and clothing are necessary consumer goods in people's daily life, and the market demand for both readyto-wear and fabrics is very large.China's textile and garment industry chain is full of rich resources and technological advantages.Through the Canton Fair, exhibitors and buyers can find their own markets and partners, opening up broader business opportunities.