Martial Arts and COVID-19 Breakthrough: Participating in the '3rd China International Import Expo'

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] The Korea International Trade Association announced that it led 72 Korean companies to participate in the "3rd China International Import Expo," held from the 5th to the 10th at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (NECC) in Shanghai, China.

The China International Import Expo is a key project of the Xi Jinping administration. Last year, more than 3,900 companies from about 180 countries and regions participated, and over 500,000 buyers from across China visited, creating a bustling event.

Korean companies also showed great anticipation for the expo, with around 300 companies expressing their intention to participate in a preliminary demand survey conducted earlier this year. However, due to the persistent spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and China’s strengthened quarantine guidelines, direct participation by Korean companies became impossible. Accordingly, the Trade Association participated in the expo with 72 companies that have branches or agents in China and those for which the association could operate as a proxy.

The association supported participating companies with influencer (Wanghong) marketing and online buyer consultations, while also collaborating with Sandbox, a leading company in the multi-channel network (MCN) industry, to promote activities and produce videos through creators entering the Chinese market, thereby enhancing the synergy effect of the group exhibition. Additionally, since participating in the first expo in 2018, the association has supported interviews and on-site coverage with China Economic Net, one of China’s three major state-run media outlets with which it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), strengthening local promotion efforts in China.

Meanwhile, although the expo was somewhat smaller than in previous years, it remains a large-scale offline event where various business opportunities are being captured. Company D, which handles processed foods, stated, "A major buyer in Beijing requested to sign an MOU worth 3 million USD," adding, "The response from buyers who visited the site was better than expected, and we hope to find a breakthrough to overcome the difficult business situation caused by COVID-19."

An official from NUC Electronics, which has participated in the expo every year since signing an MOU worth 100 million yuan with Suning Group, a major Chinese online and offline retail company, at the first expo, said, "Although there were significant difficulties in business activities this year, China is a market we cannot give up on, so we expanded our scale more than last year," adding, "Once COVID-19 subsides, sales will naturally recover."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.