Leading buyers from all over the region will be in Dubai at the end of this month to take part in the 'China Sourcing Fair,' the largest China-products exhibition in the Middle East.

The Dubai China Sourcing Fair will run from May 31 to June 2 at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre.

Now in its fifth year, the fair has become one of the largest shows of its kind offering buyers a platform to meet a large selection of China suppliers without having to travel to Asia to do it, said the organisers, Global Sources.

Launched in Shanghai in 2005, the China Sourcing Fairs quickly caught on in other key markets around the world. Today they are some of the largest China-products events in the markets where they are organized, including Hong Kong, India, South Africa and certainly Dubai.

Though organized in different parts of the world, the events have one focus: To provide buyers with direct, face-to-face access to a large number of Greater China (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan) suppliers, said the organisers.

The Dubai show features exhibitors that produce consumer electronics, gifts and premiums, home products, garments and textiles, children’s products, and hardware and building materials.

Global Sources said Dubai was the logical city in which to organize the event five years ago. Dubai follows only Hong Kong and Singapore to be the world’s third-largest re-export market.

“For this side of the earth, much of the region’s international trade goes through Dubai,” remarked Bill Janeri, general manager at Global Sources.

“So to meet our objective of organizing the show closer to where buyers in Mena are or want to be, Dubai was the logical choice. It is centrally located, has a strong multicultural business community, and has an international-trade focus,” he explained.

For the past few years, buyers in the Mena region have participating in a big way at these events, said leading Chinese firms.

Forefront Electronic Technologies, a China-based maker of GPS devices, printed circuit boards, and speakers, have been working with buyers in the region for years. The company offers buyers a 100 per cent guarantee on its products.

“We look to Global Sources and the Dubai China Sourcing Fair as a way to expand our network of customers in the region, as we help those customers expand their business,” said Flanks Lin, general manager.

“We’ve been working with customers in the region for more than 10 years. Over that time we’ve learned a lot about how companies here operate and how our products can best serve their customers’ needs. It’s been a positive experience,” noted Lin.

Many markets in the region are already importing a significant amount of products from China. But in more developing markets here, this trade with China is really just taking off.

'As an economy stabilizes and expands so does its middle class. A growing middle class brings more disposable income and growing demand for consumer products – like mobile phones, large-screen TVs, and nice items for the house,” remarked Janeri.

'At the same time, in many of these markets, the product distribution systems are becoming more sophisticated. These markets are making the transition from “Mom & Pop” shops, to networks of world-class retail outlets on par with those in any other market in the world.'

'To fill those shelves, importers and purchasing managers look to China for well-made products at price points where the retailer has more flexibility with the margin it charges,' he added.

Throughout the Mena region, traders, buyers, distributors and purchasing teams from large-scale, multinational retailers have been turning to manufacturers in China as the first stop in their product-buying process.

When considering price and quality, China is the benchmark by which all other markets are compared.

At the same time, China’s suppliers are quickly adapting to continually shifting product trends, such as those in environmentally friendly “green” products.

“For nearly 10 years, we’ve been exporting to buyers in the Mena region, including Dubai, Doha and Oman,” said Shengyang Chen, general manager at Zhejiang Ruiming Energy-saving Doors & Windows.

“Energy-efficient doors and windows are our specialty. As buyers focus on green technologies in their new builds, we feel our products can only benefit their new construction projects, Chen noted.

Many of the exhibitors at our China Sourcing Fairs have been exporting globally for years – and for some of them, decades. They are the brands behind the brands, manufacturing products for some of the world’s leading companies.

By coming to Dubai as part of the China Sourcing Fair, these companies are hoping to meet and do business with buyers in the region they don’t know and who don’t know them, said Janeri.

'We’ve been exporting around the world for over 22 years, but only recently we started to focus on Mena market,” said Guanqun Wu, sales manager at FuJian Quanzhou Peak Sports Products, which produces for multinational brands, including Peak sports apparel.

“This is a region where demand for sporting goods is expanding rapidly. We feel with our long history and brand leadership, buyers in the region will find great quality and value in our product line. And we’re anxious to work with them so that they do,” said Wu.-TradeArabia News Service