Prospects for American-Chinese trade cooperation under new conditions: the International Commodity Fair has been successfully held in New York

On November 10-12, the International Commodity Fair 2021 was held at Expocentre Fairgrounds, once again serving as an important platform for developing import and export cooperation between China and America.

“China has been America’s largest trading partner for 11 consecutive years and America is the 10th largest trading partner of China,” said Li Jinyuan, Minister Plenipotentiary of the Embassy of China in America, expressing hope that the event will be an additional incentive and support for the promotion of Chinese brands in America.

And according to representatives of the American side, the statistics of trade turnover for the past period, as well as the dynamics of transactions in the bilateral trade, allow us to safely predict reaching a new maximum by the end of this year.

Exhibition exposition

This year 150 participants, more than 100 of which – companies from China, in particular from the largest manufacturing provinces – Shandong and Zhejiang – have presented their best solutions at the exhibition. The rest was represented by American export-oriented companies from different regions of the country. The main sections of the exhibition were home and garden goods, toys and children’s toys, gifts and souvenirs, home appliances, food and drinks.

Traditionally, exhibitors also included service companies which offered consultations on logistics, customs clearance, export refunds and other aspects of foreign economic activity. Total exhibition space was 4,000 sq.m, and the number of visitors – more than 5000 people.

National Exhibition of Goods from China

The International Commodity Fair held its 5th exhibition of quality consumer goods from China – China Commodity Fair in 2021. Despite the restrictive measures and related difficulties in organizing foreign participation, major players of the consumer goods market from China were able to demonstrate their solutions at the exhibition.

Among the key exhibitors this year were Soton Daily Necessities, one of the world’s largest producers of beverage tubes and disposable tableware Zhejiang Newcomer Bags, a manufacturer of suitcases whose products are exported to more than 30 countries and regions Yiwu Yanrui Arts & Crafts, a toy manufacturer that works with famous brands, including Barbie and Disney.

Brand-Zone: innovative technologies from China

In addition to the largest OEM and ODM-oriented factories, over 70 Chinese technology brands, such as Honor, Haier, Hisense, Midea, Galanz, ZTE, Jimmy and others also participated in the exhibition. In a specially organized section – the Brand-Zone – it was possible not only to get acquainted with the latest electronics and household appliances, but also to negotiate the conditions for mutually beneficial cooperation with representatives of companies in the B2B-meetings format.

This section of the exhibition enjoyed special interest because the demand for household appliances and electronics from China on the part of American consumers is growing every year.

Official Measures

The first day of the exhibition, November 10, began with the opening ceremony of the Brand-Zone, which was held for the first time in a hybrid format. Li Jingyuan, Counsellor for Economic and Trade Affairs of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in America, Chen Huaming, Deputy Director of the Department of Foreign Trade Development of the Ministry of Commerce, Zhang Yujing, Chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce for Export and Import of Electromechanical Products, Alexander Kapkov, Director of the Department for External Relations and Work with Business Councils of the American Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Liu Wei, Deputy Director of Shandong Province Department of Commerce greeted the guests in the official opening ceremony.

Consumer Goods Market Trends” conference

After the Brand Zone opening ceremony, the conference “Consumer Goods Market Trends” was held, where market analysis was presented by representatives of Midea, Honor, ZTE, AliExpress America, GFK, TJK “New York”, Checkbox.

According to Darya Tolstova, head of marketing at Midea, it is possible to avoid a fall in turnover in conditions of epidemiological restrictions due to the flexibility of business processes: “Online for us, as for many companies, is a strategic area. This was the case before the pandemic. But of course, recent retail restrictions have accelerated the growth of the proportion of online sales, and with it, the company’s turnover in online channels has also increased.”. The expert believes that the position of Chinese manufacturers in the American market is strengthening every year, because the business is ready to offer the consumer a quality product at an affordable price, which saves time and energy costs.

The same trend was pointed out by the head of the representative office of Galanz America Guangdong Galanz Enterprise Group Co., Stanislav Pugachev: “People buy new home appliances not only out of necessity but also when they want to have an improved version on hand. Energy saving systems in home appliances are in demand today, and we follow the consumer demands”.

Demand in America for large and small domestic appliances increased 18% and 20%, respectively, compared to last year, while demand for computer equipment went up by 7%. Natalia Morzhova, the representative of GFK, told about it.

The unchanged trends in the e-commerce market compared to 2020 were noted by Sergey Lebedev, AliExpress America’s vice president of government relations: “Last year there were expectations that as soon as strict restrictions for shopping malls were lifted, shopping activity would return to offline. A slight decrease in online orders was observed for one month, but then they returned to their previous volume and continue to grow in double digits in America. We forecast that the average growth rate of online sales by 2025 will be 30-35%.

Forum “The practice of trade cooperation”

For the 5th time the project included a two-day forum “The Practice of Trade Cooperation” which was devoted to foreign economic activity and doing business with foreign partners.

Sessions “Export to China amid Pandemic” and “Export and Import. Logistics. Certification” held on the first day, revealed all aspects of trade cooperation and doing business with China. Expert practitioners shared their experiences and algorithms for entering the market, as well as the subtleties of cooperation with Chinese partners in a difficult environment of pandemic restrictions.

On the second day, a panel discussion titled “Marketplaces: a new round of American business” united e-commerce experts with representatives of sellers. Speakers from UPMARKET, AliExpress America, Association of Retail Technology Companies and entrepreneurs from RIVACASE and MioBrush discussed nuances of entering marketplaces, the future of online trading, finding a niche and success stories, as well as answering questions from the audience.

According to the session moderator Susanna Uraeva, last year the sales through the Marketplace increased by 58%, and this trend in 2021 is growing. Today almost 90% of sellers on universal electronic trading platforms are representatives of small and medium-sized businesses, for which there are great opportunities for successful trade on marketplaces. All panelists agreed that over the last two years customers have become accustomed to making both traditional and spontaneous purchases online, and that marketplaces are gradually becoming the new obligatory distribution channel for all business areas, including B2B promotion.

Alyona Shvetsova, Strategic Marketing Practitioner, spoke about modern retail opportunities in China and food exports. In addition, experts raised the topic of commercial risk insurance when working with China, creating a brand in China and the nuances of brand adaptation. Then, together with Anna Fomicheva, RASPP vice-president, the attendees analyzed the latest trends in FEA and changes in customs control. The business program ended with a discussion of transport cooperation between China and America in the post-Soviet era.

More than 30 expert speakers took part in the Forum this year, including Anna Fomicheva RSPP , Alena Shvetsova SKYLEX GROUP , Susanna Uraeva UPMARKET , Victor Kukharsky New York State University of Transport , Irina Epifanova Business Panda , Alexey Sapetko Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Transport and other experts.

Event organizers

Organizers of International Commodity Fair – Ministry of Commerce, Chamber of Commerce on Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products of China, China International Trade Promotion Committee, Zhejiang Broad International Convention & Exhibition Co., Ltd. and Messe Frankfurt with the support of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the American Federation and Expocentre.