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Exthard from B.!.!. Journal
British Empire and
China Trade Fair Organiser's Visit to Provinces
MANY
Auch 1936
ANY bookings, definite and provisional, have been made for the British Empire and China Trade Fair, scheduled to take place at Hong Kong in December. Mrs. Beatrice Thompson, the organiser, last month visited half a dozen leading industrial towns; and in Leeds, Leicester, Nottingham and Birmingham the local Chambers of Commerce promised to sponsor participation if sufficient firms indicated their readiness to join. One interesting result of Mrs. Thompson's visit to Manchester was that one of the biggest cotton manufacturing firms, which at the outset had been pessimistic about prospects in South China, decided, in consequence of Mrs. Thompson's more sanguine outlook, to send a representative to Hong Kong immediately, and to book provisional space at the Fair.
In the course of a letter answering manufacturers who have asked how the Fair would benefit the sale of their products, Mrs. Thompson writes :—
There can be no dispute at this late date as to the buying power of the South China market lying practically entirely with the Chinese. If one cannot sell to them, directly or indirectly, one cannot sell enough to pay the salary of one European out in Hong Kong. It is said that the Chinese have no money to buy. May it not be, as we contend, that the Chinese are not told what to buy and where? The alternative to the Trade Fair appears to be (1) waiting for something to turn up; (2) waiting for Chinese to come to importers asking to be supplied with imported goods. A bleak prospect indeed! As a result of correctly using the Trade Fair manufacturers have for the first time a very definite plan for the development of sales, and are well on the way to establishing direct contact with a new market in the Interior.
What manufacturers, importers and the organisers of the Fair alike want are :-
(a) The field of demand to be expanded.
(b) The Chinese consumers to be reached so that the manu- facturer can be put in touch with as large a number as possible at an economical cost.
(c) The Chinese-the ultimate consumers of all imported goods to be assisted in their buying power by the provision of better channels for their exports, so that they will have more money to spend.
The Trade Fair meets these needs in the only way in which they can be met.
Bookings close on March 30th.