The signing ceremony for procurement of the Large Retail Purchaser Alliance of Shanghai Trading Group was held in Shanghai as one of the supporting events of the 6th China International Import Expo (CIIE).
Held from 5-10 November, the CIIE is comprised of business exhibitions, economic forums and professional and cultural exchange events.
Retail giant Shanghai Bailian Group led Bright Food Group, Greenland Global Commodity Trading Hub Group, Metro AG, Shanghai Laiyifen and other alliance members to conduct signings with international exhibitor representatives. The procurement categories involved food and consumer goods.
In 2023, four new members joined the Alliance: IKEA China, Shanghai Yuanmai Trading, Yuyuan and Alldays. This has expanded the membership from 21 members in 2018 to 37 members at present.
Since the initiation of CIIE 2023, the Retail Alliance members have reached preliminary procurement intentions for 55 projects with a total amount of approximately 3.5bn yuan ($480bn) including 24 projects that were signed during the ceremony, according to Bailian Group president Pu Shaohua.
Bailan Group board chairman Ye Yongming commented that the company plans to cooperate with more high-quality import brands to unleash market consumption potential.
During this year's CIIE, Bailan Group reportedly signed 26 cooperation projects worth approximately $170m in total.
According to a CIIE event organiser, the tentative deals organised at this year’s event amount to $78.41bn for one-year purchases of goods and services, marking a 6.74% increase over 2022.
A recent GlobalData report finds that China is the world’s largest e-commerce market, with revenue of $2trn in 2022 and a transactions value share of 34%, as the country is primed to dominate the global retail market.
