Cao Zhen
SHENZHEN will have its first international exhibition for maternity, baby and children s products in September 2011. Industry experts estimated that the national sales volume of these products would surpass 1 trillion yuan (US$149 billion) this year driven by the country s fourth baby boom.
Organized by Reed Huabo Exhibitions, a joint venture between British Reed Exhibitions and Shenzhen Huabo Exhibition Co. Ltd., the 2011 South China International Maternity, Baby and Children s Products Exhibition will be held at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center from Sept. 23 to 25. It will feature food, clothing, health care, toys, infant educational services and many others for mothers and children.
Maternity, baby and children s products are necessities that are rarely harmed by an economic downturn, said Huang Li, vice president of Reed Huabo. Since September, domestic baby product brands Shanghai s Boshiwa, Kunshan s Good Baby, Chaozhou s Yashili, Guangzhou s Biostime and Heilongjiang s Global Dairy have been listed on the Hong Kong stock market, which reflect China s booming baby goods industry.
China s National Population and Family Planning Commission said in 2006 that from 2006 to 2010, the country experienced a fourth baby boom, after the previous three in 1949, 1962 and 1990. Figures show that last year, there were 16.15 million newborn babies in China.
According to Wang Weimin, deputy director of the Shenzhen Babies and Children s Products Chamber of Commerce, exhibitions for mothers and babies have only begun in the past few years and were mainly held in big cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou. Guangzhou had its first exhibition last year.
Guangdong is a production base and trade center for light industry and Shenzhen is an effective channel for inland sales of baby products as well as outbound trading. I hope next year s exhibition will attract traders from Hong Kong, Macao and foreign countries, introducing more international brands to mainland mothers, many of whom prefer to shop in Hong Kong, said Jiang Chengwen, chairman and general manager of Reed Huabo.
