Irish firms seek to unlock China market at Hainan trade expo

• Published date: 15 April 2024
• Publication title: Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland)

Painted a deep shade of green, the pavilion had a row of whiskey bars along one side and food producers led by Kerry on the other, with a couple of dozen other companies occupying stands in between

Apart from food and drink, the pavilion showcased Irish healthcare, fashion and technology firms as well as State bodies such as Culture Ireland, Tourism Ireland, Bord Bia, the IDA and Enterprise Ireland.

“I suppose really what we’d like is to meet buyers here and to make introductions, hopefully maybe start getting some small sample orders just to get your feet on the ground. I’ve also got a lot to learn about the Chinese market,” said Sharon Hoey whose And Tate is one of the Irish fashion brands at the Expo.

Haikou is the capital of the island province of Hainan, which China is developing as a free trade port with generous tax breaks for business and more flexible regulations. The city is also home to the biggest duty-free mall in the world and Hainan’s duty free shopping was of particular interest to Tom Keightley from St Patrick’s Distillery in Cork.

“A lot of the business won’t be done at the show. It’s the introductions that are done at the show,” he said.

“When the show is over, we’ll go and visit the people that we know that are genuine, that we feel that we can do business with, and we’ll spend a day or maybe two days with them. And even if we only get three or four clients out of the show, it would be really good for the business.”

New suppliers

Finbarr Cleary has been doing business in China for many years, but he was hoping to meet new suppliers for Shamrock GreenTech, a green technology company. He said that, for products such as solar panels, inverters, EV chargers, heat pumps and air pumps, China now beats most competitors for quality as well as price.

“China is not cheap any more, but China’s quality has increased 200 per cent or 300 per cent. They have brought up the quality of the standard for export so that that they’re able to compete on quality, and price-wise they’re still able to compete,”...