Tancheng hygiene products cluster shows up in force at sourcing conference
Twenty-five hygiene products companies from Tancheng county appeared together at the 4th Linyi Trade City International Sourcing Conference in Linyi, East China's Shandong province, on Oct 28, presenting the county's disposable care products cluster directly to global buyers.
"In the past we sat at home waiting for orders. Today we stand at the booth talking to customers," said Xu Jiaguang, head of the Tancheng county hygiene products industry association.
The county is among the most concentrated county-level hygiene products manufacturing areas in China, with roots in family workshops of the 1990s. Eighteen companies now hold ISO9001, FDA, CE or SGS certifications, the county has 79 own brands and produces for nearly 300 consignment brands, and output of enterprises above designated size rose 45.36 percent year-on-year in the first nine months, with exports up 8.72 percent.
"We hold our standards well above national requirements. About 80 percent of our products go to Europe, the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea," said Xu Hao, chairman of Shandong Jinshenghoda Medical Products Co.
But a gap remains between quality capacity and channel capacity: of more than 30 pet bedding makers in the county, only three or four can export on their own, with most relying on traders. Ma Jiancheng, general manager of Shandong Hengjia Paper Co, led a team to a pet products fair in Sao Paulo, Brazil. "Overseas demand exists. We just weren't standing in front of it," he said.
The association organized the group participation to pool the cluster's voice and pass buyers' specific demands — odor control, biodegradable materials, custom sizes — back to production lines.
As the sourcing conference is held annually, the county sees it as a standing international procurement window at its doorstep, with the conference's supply-demand matching mechanism giving companies direct access to end buyers and external benchmarks for upgrading.
Editor：韩蒙蒙