China-Europe trading market opens in Sweden, but doubts persist
Thursday, 27 September 2007
KALMAR, Sweden, Sept 26 (AFP): A giant Chinese wholesale market hoping to attract retailers from across northern Europe opens in Sweden this week, but experts doubt whether merchants will actually flock to the venue.
The Sweden-China commodity wholesale market, located in the southeastern Swedish town of Kalmar, aims to match up thousands of Chinese exhibitors with European retailers who want to get a piece of China's growing, and cheap, consumer product market, according to the project's brainchild, Chinese company Fanerdun.
"This is going to be a trading place between China and Europe. China is a large market, and there's a huge demand for Chinese products," the chief executive of the Swedish division of Fanerdun, Peter Fust, told the news agency in a recent interview.
"This is a way to make Chinese products more available. The advantage is that you have a large number of wholesalers under one roof with quick delivery schedules," Fust said.
But the project, which was due to open its doors in August, has been repeatedly delayed and Friday's "grand opening" is now a mere "sneak peek" of what is to come.
The main exhibition hall is still under construction, and the site-a former chocolate factory-will offer 1,400 stands or 21,000 square metres of exhibition space when completed in March 2008.
A later phase will see the construction of another 1,400 stands, providing a total of 80,000 square metres of exhibition space or the equivalent of 13 football pitches.
Fust said Fanerdun hoped the project, also known as the China-Europe Business and Exhibition Centre (CEBEC), would ultimately draw some 2,000 visitors a day, or several hundred thousand buyers a year.
But Mattias Bergman, the Swedish Trade Office's regional director for Asia, told the news agency he was sceptical whether retailers from across Europe would really make the trip to Kalmar.
"A lot will depend on the selection of products they offer. But is there enough demand in the region for 1,000 Chinese traders? No, I don't think so," he said, noting that large chains would be unlikely clients since they already have established contacts in China.
And when asked if CEBEC was a serious project, the head of the Invest in Sweden Agency, Kai Hammerich, recently told Swedish media: "I can't vouch for the business idea. Only time will tell."
Fust remained secretive on how many Chinese wholesalers had signed up for stands-media reports say none-and said that in the initial stage that opens Friday some 200 stands offering 8,000 to 10,000 products would be run by Fanerdun itself.
Bergman said the business idea was obviously a harder sell than expected for Fanerdun.
"We normally advise retailers not to buy through an exhibition fair because of corporate social responsibility issues such as child labour and slave labour. You have to find a manufacturer you trust and be able to examine the product's chain all the way from the manufacturer and the workers to the wholesaler," Bergman said.
He said smaller European retailers may come to the fair to check out the wares but that was no guarantee they would actually order goods.
Bergman said buyers would probably be more inclined to travel directly to the renowned Canton Fair in China than to Kalmar, a small town of 60,000 people whose airport offers only daily connections to Stockholm and no international flights.
"People won't choose Kalmar over China unless it has a fantastic selection," Bergman said.
The Sweden-China commodity wholesale market, located in the southeastern Swedish town of Kalmar, aims to match up thousands of Chinese exhibitors with European retailers who want to get a piece of China's growing, and cheap, consumer product market, according to the project's brainchild, Chinese company Fanerdun.
"This is going to be a trading place between China and Europe. China is a large market, and there's a huge demand for Chinese products," the chief executive of the Swedish division of Fanerdun, Peter Fust, told the news agency in a recent interview.
"This is a way to make Chinese products more available. The advantage is that you have a large number of wholesalers under one roof with quick delivery schedules," Fust said.
But the project, which was due to open its doors in August, has been repeatedly delayed and Friday's "grand opening" is now a mere "sneak peek" of what is to come.
The main exhibition hall is still under construction, and the site-a former chocolate factory-will offer 1,400 stands or 21,000 square metres of exhibition space when completed in March 2008.
A later phase will see the construction of another 1,400 stands, providing a total of 80,000 square metres of exhibition space or the equivalent of 13 football pitches.
Fust said Fanerdun hoped the project, also known as the China-Europe Business and Exhibition Centre (CEBEC), would ultimately draw some 2,000 visitors a day, or several hundred thousand buyers a year.
But Mattias Bergman, the Swedish Trade Office's regional director for Asia, told the news agency he was sceptical whether retailers from across Europe would really make the trip to Kalmar.
"A lot will depend on the selection of products they offer. But is there enough demand in the region for 1,000 Chinese traders? No, I don't think so," he said, noting that large chains would be unlikely clients since they already have established contacts in China.
And when asked if CEBEC was a serious project, the head of the Invest in Sweden Agency, Kai Hammerich, recently told Swedish media: "I can't vouch for the business idea. Only time will tell."
Fust remained secretive on how many Chinese wholesalers had signed up for stands-media reports say none-and said that in the initial stage that opens Friday some 200 stands offering 8,000 to 10,000 products would be run by Fanerdun itself.
Bergman said the business idea was obviously a harder sell than expected for Fanerdun.
"We normally advise retailers not to buy through an exhibition fair because of corporate social responsibility issues such as child labour and slave labour. You have to find a manufacturer you trust and be able to examine the product's chain all the way from the manufacturer and the workers to the wholesaler," Bergman said.
He said smaller European retailers may come to the fair to check out the wares but that was no guarantee they would actually order goods.
Bergman said buyers would probably be more inclined to travel directly to the renowned Canton Fair in China than to Kalmar, a small town of 60,000 people whose airport offers only daily connections to Stockholm and no international flights.
"People won't choose Kalmar over China unless it has a fantastic selection," Bergman said.