The 5th China International Consumer Goods Fair (CICGF) will be held from June 8th to 12th in the famous harbor city of Ningbo. CICGF, the largest and most professional consumer goods fair in China, has been held for four times since 2002, with several thousand enterprises exhibiting and thousands of buyers from more than 110 countries and regions attending.

Renowned as one of the most important windows of opening up to the outside world in China, Ningbo is an important foreign trade harbor city, with its port trade volume reaching US$67 billion in 2005. The cargo throughput of Ningbo Port exceeded 269 million tons, ranking 2nd in China and the 4th in the world. The container throughput of the year exceeded 5.2095 million TEU, ranking 15th in the world.

The 5th CICGF will be held at Ningbo International Exhibition and Convention Center. It is co-sponsored by Ministry of Commerce P.R.C. and Zhejiang Provincial People's Government, undertaken by Ningbo Municipal Government and Zhejiang Provincial Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Department. The session will bring to full play of its features as an internationalized, professional, market-oriented and standardized exhibition, and actively explore ways to cooperate with renowned exhibition organizers in and outside China, consolidating the position of the “No.1 consumer goods fair in China”.

The fair will set up 3000 booths, which will be divided into the following 5 exhibiting categories: Household textiles & garments, Electronics & home appliances, Light industrial products, Arts & crafts, Foodstuffs.

Household textiles & garments: Zhejiang Province is known as the largest textile producer in China, while Ningbo is the most famous garment-making city in China, which produces 12% of China’s garments total and 5% of China’s garment export total. Some of the most famous apparel and textile brands exhibiting are: Youngor, Romon, Firs, Bridge, Busen, Furun, North Swan, Qinsen, Aiyimei, Peacebird, Veken, etc.

Electronics & home appliances: Ningbo is one of China’s three major home electric appliance manufacturing bases. Some of the most famous brands exhibiting are: Aux, Fuda, Huayu, Smal, Qidi, Pairdeer (battery), Yongfa (electric safe), Lamo, Hongyi, Aoleishi, Minfeng, Jinshuai, Hicon, Shuaikang, Aucma (from Qingdao), etc.

Light Industrial Products: A great variety of light industrial products will show up at the fair. Among them, there are some bright spots:

Ningbo, as“China’s Metropolis of Stationery”, which exports one third of China’s stationery export total, is organizing all the famous stationery brands like Beifa ( world’s number one stationery producer), Binbin, Chenglu, Guangbo, Delhi, Wenkui, etc. to attend. The Union of Asian-Pacific Stationery will be founded at the fair on June 9.

The following products will make deep impressions on the buyers: Gempsy high-speed sewing machine series, Oulin kitchenware, Xinhai plastic electronic lighters, Beilun Tents, Shenma baby carriage, etc.

Arts & Crafts: “Chinese Antique Furniture Street” will make its first appearance at the 5th CICGF, which will attract every visitor’s eyeballs. Ningbo furniture has dominated Canton Fair at the recent sessions. There are varieties of arts and crafts not only from China, but also from Korea and other countries and regions.

Foodstuffs: East China produces the most famous tea both in China and in the world. At exhibition are varieties of famous tea from East China, including green tea, black tea, jasmine tea, etc. Famous wine from Zhejiang Province will also attend. Seafood, honey, seasonings, canned fruit and vegetables, health food , etc. will be very attractive.

There are four points to note for the session:

1. The fair is larger in scale. There are 3000 standard booths, increasing 800 by the last session. Over 1500 exhibitors will attend. 20 provinces and municipalities will organize to attend. There are also some exhibitors from abroad. The exhibition display will impress every visitor with unified and harmonious images.

2. More famous brands will be exhibiting. As a window for “Made-in-China” products to enter the world market, the fair has become an important platform for Chinese brands to go global. Many famous national brands, such as the Famous Chinese Export Brands, Famous Chinese Brands, Well-known Chinese Trademarks, will be exhibiting. Altogether there will be more than 230 famous brands, including over 80 national and 150 local famous brands. Brand exhibit will turn up a beautiful view line at the fair. In this regard, Zhejiang Province, one of the world’s biggest consumer goods manufacturing bases, and the city of Ningbo, with the title of “China’s Metropolis of Brands”, will contribute more to the success of the fair.

There is a great advantage for both the buyers and exhibitors: since many manufacturers or trade companies are not far from the fair, it is convenient for buyers to visit the factories and to make their own evaluation.

3. More foreign clients will be attending. Thousands of foreign buyers from 110 countries and regions have replied to attend the fair. Over 50 foreign trade delegations are coming. Famous international chain stores like Carrefour, Auchan, Metro, Loroy Merlin, Japan DCM Supermarket Group, HDC, QVC, GS, etc. will be purchasing at the fair. Some well-known e-commerce platforms will also be present. It is expected that there will be a big increase in both buyer attendance and trade volume reached than the last session.

4. More cooperation efforts have been enhanced. With CICGF’s successful accomplishments and the spreading of its fame, more and more foreign and domestic fair organizers, news media have started to seek cooperation with it. Ecommerce Gateway Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd., Indian Chamber of Commerce, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Bulgarian–Chinese Chamber for Economic Cooperation, K·J· Business Co., LTD from Japan, etc., have decided to cooperate with CICGF. Well-known organizations and dignitaries in EU, Germany, the US, Turkey, the Philippines, etc. and many foreign business offices in Shanghai have started to cooperate with CICGF, organizing buyers or exhibitors to attend the fair.

A cooperation agreement has been reached between CICGF and China Internet (Information Center), No.1 governmental website in China, for the global online promotion of CICGF. Another agreement has been reached between CICGF and China’s Global Expo, for the special English issue on the 5th China International Consumer Goods Fair.