China's Double 11 shopping festival drives surge in production, sales

Chinese manufacturers and retailers are ramping up production, livestreaming and promotions to capture demand during the "Double 11" shopping carnival, as local governments and businesses seek to convert online traffic into actual consumption growth.

In Hai'an, a county-level city in east China's Jiangsu Province, a biscuit factory that has operated locally for nearly 30 years is running four production lines at full capacity, producing about 30 metric tons per day and shipping most orders the same day they are made.

"We've seen an increase of roughly 50 percent. Meanwhile, orders from our offline retail outlets and distributors have also grown significantly by more than 30 percent," said Ji Hongjuan, head of e-commerce operations at the Nantong Qixiang Biscuit Food Factory. Behind the order surge is logistics support. At the Hai'an postal transfer center, sorting machines and conveyor belts have been running smoothly since 06:00 daily, with parcels automatically sorted and routed to designated chutes.

In Pingdu, a city in east China's Shandong Province, the shopping festival has also fueled a consumption boom. At a local home appliance store, consumers are comparing specifications and testing products as they plan year-end replacements.

"For this year's 'Double 11' promotional event, we match in-store prices to online self-operated Double 11 rates and offer a 15-percent subsidy of up to 1,500 yuan (207 U.S. dollars) across six major home appliance categories. For 3C products, we offer a subsidy of up to 500 yuan on items priced under 6,000 yuan, with additional, stackable subsidies available for high-end models," said store manager Jiang Ming.

A local false eyelash factory is also seeing strong cross-border e-commerce orders, with daily output of up to 30,000 boxes bound for Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea.

Double 11, also known as Singles' Day, falls on November 11 each year. In 2009, Alibaba's Taobao (now Tmall) co-opted the informal holiday and turned it into an online shopping promotion, and the event has since grown into the world's largest annual e-commerce sales festival.

The shopping spree now spans weeks rather than a single day, with major platforms launching pre-sales in mid-October and extending promotions into mid-November.

China's Double 11 shopping festival drives surge in production, sales

Hundreds of exhibitors from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies at the 9th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai have hailed China as far more than a vast market, describing it as a gateway to the wider Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

The timing gives that message particular resonance, with the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen preparing to host the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in a matter of days.

For its part, the CIIE has offered a living preview of the priorities APEC champions, among them openness, innovation and cooperation, as companies from across the region pursue deals and partnerships on its exhibition floor, where opportunity has emerged as the prevailing theme.

"CIIE offers Indonesian businesses more than just a place to display their products. It gives them an opportunity to meet potential buyers, find local distributors, build business partnerships, and better understand what Chinese consumers want," said Angga Handian Putra, director, Indonesia Trade Promotion Center (ITPC) Shanghai.

Many longtime participants see the same spirit as a sustained commitment written into China's policy agenda.

"I think what China's been doing over the last few years, and [which] is also carrying on into their next Five-Year Plan is that they've got that openness and are trying to get cooperation and win-win partnerships with countries around the world and businesses around the world," said Roy Van Den Hurk, CEO of Milk New Zealand Dairy Limited.

The benefits, however, are not confined to China's borders, as business connections forged in Shanghai frequently travel far beyond them.

"More importantly, the opportunities do not stop in China. Business connections made at CIIE can open doors to other markets across the Asia-Pacific region. Ultimately, CIIE helps Indonesian businesses grow from simply selling products overseas to building strong brands and long-term business relationships," Angga Handian Putra said.

Shenzhen will host the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting later this month under the theme of 'Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together,' with the preceding CEO Summit on Nov. 17-18 set to carry conversations first heard on the CIIE floor into the summit's halls.

CIIE opens doors for APEC businesses to China, beyond