The Seoul Business Agency (SBA), led by Acting CEO Park Bo-kyung, has officially opened the 'Seoul Product Exhibition Hall' in the Chengdu High-tech Zone, aimed at supporting the entry of superior small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) products from Seoul into the Chinese market.
This initiative, a collaboration between SBA and the Chengdu High-tech Zone's Science and Technology Innovation Bureau, along with G-SPACE, represents a strategic move beyond mere one-time events. The exhibition hall will serve as a pivotal base for market entry in China, offering comprehensive support including market validation, online and offline sales, buyer matching, and local distribution network connections.
Notably, the selection of Chengdu, a key inland city with significant consumer potential, marks a departure from the crowded coastal markets of Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, underlining the strategic significance of this initiative. Chengdu is emerging as a robust consumption hub, providing Seoul's SMEs with new opportunities for market expansion into China's interior.
The exhibition features products awarded the 'Seoul Awards', which recognize quality and market potential. Notable sectors represented include beauty and food, showcasing Seoul's leading SME products to local consumers and buyers.
Participating companies are expected to leverage the offline exhibition to gauge real-time consumer and buyer responses, helping them refine their strategies for successful market entry into China’s interior. On the opening day, a one-on-one buyer consultation meeting was also held, facilitating direct engagement between Korean and Chinese businesses to enhance local distribution channels.
Participating enterprises included Lutronics (CEO Jung Dae-kun), Dow Gene Research Institute (CEO Hwang Chun-hong), and D.O.S & Unique (CEO Choi Soon-cheol). The group will be in Chengdu from the 16th to the 19th, attending the exhibition hall's opening ceremony and buyer meetings, while exploring local industrial infrastructure to assess various pathways for entering the Chinese inland market.
Lee Jae-hoon, Head of Marketing at SBA, emphasized, “Strategically targeting Chengdu, an inland city with immense growth potential, will create new avenues for our SMEs. We will actively connect the certified superior SMEs with online and offline distribution channels and buyer networks to help them successfully navigate the southwestern Chinese market.”
