A Vast Market for Import
According to a research thrown by Alibaba, 65 percent of its members have potential customers in China, while 22 percent of its members have sold their products in China. The need for some consumer goods, such as foods, high-end textiles and garments importing are increasing rapidly.
Some in the industry see a large market for import as Chinese people’s life taste become more and more internationalized. An increasing number of Chinese companies are purchasing hi-tech equipment and materials as they are trying to move the value chain. So there is a potential market in this sector. Meanwhile, many small and medium-sized foreign brands eager to get into the vast market in China, are expecting to enter China through local traders. One example is a small business which is registered on Alibaba. The company’s employees fly to South Korea to get the latest style design and later sell it to the customers in Shanghai.
Based on the trend, many China exporters shift to imports. A typical example is the experience of Liu Xuefei, a trader in Guangzhou, a southern China city. He halted his jobs of selling Chinese ceramics to Australians and Americans and shift to import wine in 2005. Liu changed his business for two reasons. Firstly, the number of rich people around him is increasing; Secondly the United States was urging Chinese yuan appreciation. And he said he majored in economics, and (based on his knowledge), he felt imports in China would be a promising business.
And his 3-year experience has proved his surmise is right. He now sells wine to Chinese who have started to appreciate the drink, which have been considered a part of Western upper-class lifestyle. For thousands of years, baijiu or white spirits has been the dominant drinking. Now China has become the fastest growing market for wine in the world. Liu’s small company sells nearly 60,000 high-end bottles to Chinese companies, including high-end restaurants, airlines and five-star hotels.
Liu is not alone, an increasing number of small and medium-sized Chinese companies have shifted to imports as China’s exporters grapple with rising costs. This phenomenon can be proved by the information proved on Alibaba’s online platform.
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