Linyi selection center hosts first foreign buyer matchmaking meeting

The Linyi International Product Selection Center held its first foreign buyer matchmaking meeting on the afternoon of Oct 10, drawing buyers from Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan and other countries to meet local suppliers directly.

The meeting, the first since the center opened and to be held regularly, dispensed with intermediary trade links. All participating merchants were local quality source factories with mature production capacity and formal export qualifications, able to provide product customization, on-site sample viewing, real-time quotations and one-stop foreign trade services covering customs declaration and logistics. The event provided full bilingual interpretation, and after hearing buyers' needs, merchants presented their samples. Buyers also visited some merchants at the center afterward.

Siddik, a Pakistani buyer, said he had been looking for a source manufacturer of pet products and found one at the meeting, and planned to visit the factory afterward. Siddik studied in China and has worked in foreign trade since graduating. He first came to Linyi half a year ago on business and found its supply of goods abundant, particularly the labor protection and hardware products his overseas clients need, which are competitive in both quality and price. He said that while some overseas buyers are not yet familiar with Linyi, the selection center provides a good platform where they can talk directly with factories.

Shiela, a Kenyan buyer, has in recent years sold many quality Linyi products overseas alongside her main business in heavy machinery. She has visited Qingdao, Guangzhou and Yiwu to select goods, and ultimately registered a company in Linyi. She said that elsewhere she often cannot tell source factories from intermediaries, which causes large price discrepancies, but in Linyi she can easily find source factories. With the selection center, she said, she can discuss prices with multiple factories in a single visit, saving cost and time.

Wang Meng, general manager of Menglu Enamel, connected with a foreign buyer at the meeting for further talks. She said her company previously promoted itself and found customers mainly through social media, but now it only needs to display products at the center for buyers to come and select them. Her company has made enamelware for more than 30 years and has exported for over a decade, with products for markets in the Middle East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa. It now offers 40 to 50 styles across price ranges.

The center covers Linyi's advantageous local product processing enterprises and is building a complete international supply chain system as a nationally known sourcing and distribution hub for production materials. It has set up a foreign trade comprehensive service team offering customs declaration, inspection, shipping, overseas customs clearance and overseas warehouse delivery. It follows an "orders first" principle, drawing international buyers so merchants can access quality international market resources close to home.

On the morning of Oct 13, an English corner at the center opened its foreign trade English class, with more than 50 merchants practicing common expressions for communicating with foreign buyers under the guidance of foreign trade manager Lin Xiaojuan. Wu Qun, general manager of Toplai New Materials, said he had attended the classes daily since Sept 29 and had nearly mastered basic conversational English for dealing with foreign buyers, hoping to export his factory's plywood to more countries.

Liu Yongqiang, deputy general manager of Lanshan district industrial development group and chairman of Linyi Trade City Development Group, said the center has set up a training team to provide training and incubation services for companies and has built a supporting international logistics park to lower international logistics costs. At the center, foreign buyers and order consolidators need only deal with one chain-leader merchant to complete multi-category sourcing, so that "one building covers the whole city," advancing Linyi Trade City from trading nationwide to trading worldwide.

Editor：韩蒙蒙