Welcome Speech

2010-05-18

With the opening of the 7th Shanghai Apparel Trade Fair and the joint-event Mode Shanghai, I’d like to take the opportunity to thank and welcome all our exhibitors, buyers from home and abroad.

 

2010 is going to be an extraordinary year for China’s textile and apparel industry. The current market shows 2 major trends: First, with the potential RMB appreciation and rising cost of local manufacturers, more and more labour-intensive apparel manufacturers are locating to the third world countries in South-east Asia. Under these circumstances, the only way for china apparel manufacturers to compete and develop is to fully utilize the complete and strong industry chain to seek constant innovation. Second, with the impact of the financial crisis, more and more international brands are targeting the huge China apparel consumption market. However, due to the limited knowledge of the local channels and environment, the international brands find it hard to do the market penetration.

 

 To meet the above market demands, the 7th Shanghai Apparel and Textile Trade Fair initiates 2 strategies: on the one hand, the fair features quality local products, over 400 quality fabric and apparel OEM suppliers join the fair. Government organizations from Hangzhou, Zhongshan, Chongqing, Jiashan and Jiangsu actively organize their exhibitors groups to attend the fair. On the other hand, over 400 international brands come to the fair for brand promotion. After the debut in 2008, J-mode hall this year features 120 quality Japanese brands, 4 times the scale of the last edition.

 
This initiative has had very positive feedback from buyers from home and abroad. One month prior to the fair, over 1000 overseas buyers have registered to attend the fair. Over 500 retailers and channel distributors from 16 cities of the Yangtze River Delta area, the most affluent area in China, have also made their plans to visit the fair.   

 

In addition, Business match-making is still one of the highlights of the fair. Both the international buyer session and the J-mode session will create another more efficient channel for both the buyers and suppliers to meet.

 

This year is the 7th edition of the apparel fair. Over the last 7 years, you have been with us, sharing China’s prime time of export-oriented trading and the tough period of the financial crisis. I want to thank you for all the kind support.

 

The 2010 Shanghai World Expo has made Shanghai catch the world attention. I hope you take advantage of this great opportunity to develop your business. I wish you a great success on this fair.

 

Thank you.