“Consistency, relationship building is important to Chinese people, and this requires a lot of work to do. Therefore, one visit to this country is not enough to establish business relationship. On the other hand, China is taking active steps to promote activity country’s trade with the rest of the world, and this exhibition is one of the main means of promoting the country’s import and export, with great deal of attention paid on and a lot of resources devoted to it. There are high expectations and demands in connection with it. In view of all this, we are continuously implementing various export promotion activites to help Lithuanian exporters to establish themselves in China. One of such activities is participation in the exhibition China International Import Expo 2019 that is held for the second year. Every year during the event, we present two Lithuanian national stands. This exhibition, which was first organized in China last year, showed that the country is truly open to imports, quality goods from Europe receive a lot of attention, and Chinese entrepreneurs are interested in long-term partnerships“, – says Daina Kleponė, the Managing Director of the Enterprise Lithuania.
According to D. Kleponė, the results of the companies, that with the help of Enterprise Lithuania participate in the Lithuanian national stands, are constantly monitored and evaluated, they are taken into consideration when planning export promotion assistance at exhibitions. Therefore, after having assessed the results of participation at the exhibition last year, there was no doubts about further participation at the event. “Last year, Lithuanian companies had about 1000 professional meetings at this exhibition and 200 of these meetings were identified as potential partnerships. The companies also received a lot of useful information about communication with Chinese people, entry into this market, and rated the exhibition as one of the most successful and professional exhibitions that are organized in China. A significant number of companies from other countries are participating at this exhibition for the first time. In this respect, Lithuanian companies are in an advantageous position since they are not newcomers, and strategically appreciate opportunities to enter the Chinese market. Many of them already participated at the exhibition last year. Consistency is very important for Chinese people and they notice it right away”, – says D. Kleponė.
In order to enhance the notoriety of Lithuanian exporters participating at this exhibition and to strengthen formation of the image of Lithuania in the Chinese market, in July this year, Enterprise Lithuania initiated the creation of Lithuanian business national account on the Chinese social networking website WeChat. This social networking website presents Lithuanian companies, advantages of our country’s manufacturers, and business innovations. Currently, the account has about 800 followers-professional purchasers, and their number is constantly growing.
16 Lithuanian companies, namely Melt Water, Daumantai, Pieno žvaigždės, Vilniaus alus, Mantinga, Gudobelė, Imlitex textile, Grainmore, Baltmax, A. Jukna studio A+L, Aromika, Linen Tales, Ante Litteram, Denim Dreams, Dom Bow Ties, and Gintaragis, participate at the exhibition China International Import Expo 2019, and present themselves in two national stands of Lithuania (food and beverages, and consumer goods) with an area of 190 square meters, which are organized by Enterprise Lithuania.
In 2018, China was the 25th largest export market for Lithuanian goods. Exports to this country accounted for 0.7% (EUR 189 million) of Lithuania’s total exports of goods. In 2018, China was the 12th largest import market of Lithuania and imports from this country accounted for 2.8% (EUR 855 million) of Lithuania‘s total imports of goods.
According to the organizers of the exhibition, the exhibition features pavilions 64 countries, with the total area of 30 thousand square meters. Over 3000 other business companies from more than 150 countries present themselves in the stands that cover the area of 330 thousand square meters. According to the publicly available information, 0.5 million professional Chinese purchasers have pre-registered for the exhibition. They will visit the event on the 5th through 10th of November. Later, on the 13th through 20th of November the exhibition will be open to the Chinese public.
