Market Information

Over the past few months the Unicon team have been working hard fitting out our first concept store in the new “Fangheng Mall” in Chaoyang District, Beijing. The store opens today so please feel free to come along to celebrate with us! The image below is of the shop’s last stage of the fit-out.

The concept of TOP BRAND is to allow apparel designers to showcase their products to the sophisticating Chinese middle class market. We see huge demand for genuine imported designer apparel in Beijing but most brands sit in a price bracket outside what the average Chinese consumer can afford.

To overcome these pricing issues we import end of season stock from designers and brands from around the world. In essence TOP BRAND will be a middle to high end outlet store.

The store will open with past season ranges from Calvin Klein, Z Zegna and Lacoste and there will be a fast turn over of labels to keep the store fresh and interesting for our customers.

Latest images of the store below.

Joe

Details on tariff cut programme in trade deal with China.

The deal eliminates tariffs on 96 percent of New Zealand’s current exports to China by 2019.

For other than specified “sensitive” goods - kiwifruit, some meat, sheepskins and dairy products - the following programme will apply:

* When the deal comes into force - probably October 1 - 35 percent of imports from New Zealand which currently face tariffs of up to 5 percent will be duty free;

* Duties in the 6 to 20 percent range will be phased out over five years until 2012; and

* Tariffs greater than 20 percent will be reduced to 20 percent on day one and then phased out by 2013.

Dairy

* Some dairy products - infant milk formula, casein, yoghurt and whey - will be phased out over 5 years;

* China’s tariffs on butter, liquid milk and cheese will be phased out over the 10 years to 2017;

* Skim and whole milk powder will be removed over 12 years; and

* There are mechanisms to delay the tariff reductions if exports exceed certain quantities.

Meat

* Tariffs on beef and sheep meat, and edible offal will be removed over 9 years.

Fruit

* Apple tariffs will be removed by 2012 and kiwifruit over 9 years.

Wool

* A duty free quota of 25,000 tonnes of wool and 450 tonnes of wool tops will be set increasing by 5 percent a year for 8 years. The initial quota is 75 percent of current exports or $122 million a year in tariffs.

Wood and paper products

* China will be bound on the zero tariff on logs and sawn timber and a limited number of pine products will also be given preferential status.

* Some processed wood and paper products accounting for 4 percent of New Zealand’s exports to China will not be covered by the trade deal. This is because under WTO rules is China gives preferential status on the products, they must be applied to all WTO members.

What China Gets from New Zealand.

* All tariffs will be removed by 2016;

* Currently 37 percent of China’s exports to New Zealand are tariff free;

* An additional 2 percent of exports with a tariff of five percent or less will be duty free from October 1;

* Tariffs on most textile, apparel, footwear and carpet products will be phased to zero over seven years or nine years. Tariffs on heavily exported goods in clothing and footwear will be phased out by 2016, lesser traded goods by 2014; and

* Tariffs on all other goods (including steel, whiteware, plastics and furniture) will be mostly phased out by 2012 with the remainder by 2013.

* Ian Llewellyn is in Beijing with the assistance of the Asia New Zealand Foundation.

via:  Details on tariff cuts in China trade deal

3:30PM Monday April 07, 2008

New Zealand’s largest bilateral trade agreement is due to be signed with China on April 7th by Prime Minister Helen Clark and China’s Premier Wen Jiabao.

It’s the result of three years of negotiations and is believed to give New Zealand exporters increased access to the world’s fastest growing economy.

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Read Helen Clark’s take on the Free Trade Agreement
Will a Free Trade Agreement with China be good for us? Here is the latest selection of Your Views:

 Thanks to NZ Herald

 Via Will a Free Trade Agreement with China be good for us?

China’s economic growth for the first quarter will be 10.4 percent to 10.5 percent, a group of 14 research institutions jointly predicted over the weekend. They also predict that the consumer price index will be between 6.8 percent and 7.1 percent.

Source: Growth forecast

via Shanghai Daily: Business by on 2/26/08

Chinese factories feeling the pressures of rising energy costs and raw material costs may soon be relaying that increase to American consumers. After years of dominating the production scene for inexpensive goods, Chinese suppliers are now raising prices amidst a weakening dollar and new regulatory policies, further threatening inflation.

Source: Rising Costs in China to Fuel US Inflation

via Biz China Update - News, Reports on 2/13/08

 China’s Hot New Markets

Quote from Barry Friedman: “I have been speaking to a lot of companies around the country and letting them know where the markets of the future are going to be in China

They are going to what are known as emerging urban centers, also known as secondary cities. It is hard to call these “secondary cities” because they have eight to ten million people in them. These cities outside the major centers and are located away from the coast in the interior, very large urban cities that are now having the buying power and industrial development that we have seen throughout the other parts of the country, this is where Americans should be looking at and if they want to be in business with China in five years this is where they should be looking.”

 See the video here source www.export.gov

THE Silk Street Market in Beijing, which has long offered copies of international designer and branded goods, has unveiled its own brand - with a warning that anyone who tries to copy it will be held liable. The first items to bear the Silkstreet name, include ties, shirts and scarves, as well as household items such as tablecloths. They are marked “quality guaranteed” with a label that tells buyers that “the goods are certified by the Silk Street Market. If any quality problems are found, the market will bear the responsibility of compensation.” Wang Zili, general manager of the market, told the Beijing Evening News: “Silkstreet products are sold exclusively in the market. Anyone using the brand outside will be held liable.” Nearly 100 stalls connected with 39 market shops will be entitled to sell the goods initially. T-shirts, jeans, knitted goods, jewelry, luggage and other items will be added to the product line, Wang said. Those now authorized to sell Silkstreet products had to have a good business record, said Wang, with “no record of selling fake or shoddy products within six months and no [customer] complaints.” Most of the Silkstreet items come from the factories of famous Chinese manufacturers. For instance, shirts come from the century-old silk company Ruifuxiang, according to the newspaper. The Silk Street (Xiushui) market in eastern Beijing’s Chaoyang District has long been popular with overseas tourists, who have been flocking there to buy counterfeit luxury clothes and accessories since 1985.

Source: Hands off our brand, says silk market

via Shanghai Daily: National by on 1/25/08

BEIJING Vice and Acting Mayor Guo Jinlong yesterday vowed to accomplish the preparations for the upcoming Olympic Games to a “high level,” partly addressing concerns about traffic jams and pollution. He put the preparations on the top of the municipal government’s agenda for the year, saying: “(We must) accomplish the preparations for the Olympic Games and provide services in high-level and high-caliber ways.” Guo made the remarks while delivering a government work report to about 770 deputies to the city’s legislative body that kicked off its annual session yesterday morning. “Hosting the 2008 Olympic Games and Paralympics is a great event for the country, the people and the Chinese nation,” Guo said. He urged the National Stadium, nicknamed the “Bird’s Nest” due to its shape, and other venues and facilities to finish construction according to schedule. The expansion of Beijing international airport and Beijing South Railway would be completed this year, plus the construction of a subway linking the airport to downtown and several other subways and expressways, said Guo. He said Beijing would enact the “strictest standards” for pollutant emissions this year and curb pollution from heavy trucks that work at night. Beijing would also cooperate with neighboring provinces and cities to improve environmental conditions. However, he admitted that “the task to control pollution and traffic congestion is still arduous,” and the government needed to provide better public services.

Source: Beijing vow to reduce pollution for Games

via Shanghai Daily: National by on 1/21/08

CHINA has revoked the export licenses of 600 toy makers during a nationwide four-month campaign to ensure product safety and defend the “Made in China” brand around the world. The food industry was also a key target in the crackdown. The country’s leading quality watchdog has registered all toy makers and inspected more than 3,000 factories that supply toys to overseas markets during the campaign, Pu Changcheng, deputy director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said yesterday. Stricter supervision standards have been established for China’s toy manufacturers. The new rules require firms, especially those exporting toys, to run quality inspection checks on all their products, Pu told a news conference in Beijing. The administration will also check toys made according to designs and quality standards provided by other countries. Chinese industries have been battered by a raft of reports detailing substandard products ranging from drugs to toys. More than 19 million China-made toys were recalled in 2007, many by United States-based Mattel, after reports said some items were contaminated with lead paint. Others had small magnets that children might swallow. Pu said some of the toy recalls were caused by design flaws of overseas firms. Others were the result of quality standards in other countries. Pu also said the illegal practice of using non-food materials and recycled food or oil to produce food or oil was essentially eliminated during the campaign. “Product quality and food safety are global issues,” Pu said. “There is no end to the improvement of product quality and food safety so we need to work together to do a better job in the future.” Problems with food safety are particularly worrisome in China’s vast countryside, where lax supervision of small factories has contributed to food-poisoning incidents. Pu said one of this year’s objectives would be to increase supervision of small manufacturers. “We must fight to solve the problem of poor product quality and lack of safety in the shortest possible time,” he said. And food for this year’s Beijing Olympics will be highly scrutinized, Pu said. “All the food supplied during the Olympic Games must be produced by accredited companies who have been qualified for market access.” The food will be distributed from specially designated centers, and will undergo repeated inspections from production to consumption, he said.

Source: Toy makers feel brunt of China safety swoop

via Shanghai Daily: National by Lydia Chen on 1/15/08

China’s largest free-trade harbor area with the most preferential tax treatments started operation in the northern port city of Tianjin Tuesday, a further move in the country’s opening up strategy

Dongjiang Bonded Harbor Area, close to Beijing and located in the Bohai-rim region is set to enjoy the most favorable policies in taxation and foreign exchange polices and offers comprehensive services in international shipping, purchase, trade, processing and logistics

Source: China opens largest free-trade harbor area in N port city

from China Business