Chinese enterprises favoring Latin American market
( 2001-10-26 14:54 ) (8 )

Chinese enterprises expressed their interest in the Latin American market on Thursday at the 90th China Export Commodities Fair held in this capital of South China's Guangdong Province.

Li Jinhui, marketing manager of the Midea Group specializing in household appliances said, "Latin America enjoys a relatively stable environment, both politically and economically, and the people's consumption capacity has continued to swell in recent years."

According to Li, the Midea Group has already tapped a series of products tailor-made for local consumers.

Their Midea-brand air conditioners take up a considerable market share in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, said Li.

The company raked in US$14 million from exporting air conditioners over the first three quarters of the year, far more than last year's total of US$4 million.

In addition, the Shanghai-based China Worldbest Group Co Ltd, the largest textile enterprise in China, is also exploring the Latin American Market.

"We value the favorable investment environment in Latin America guaranteed by the North America Free Trade Agreement," Gan Shao'an, a business representative of the textile company, said.

According to Gan, the company has set up a cotton mill in Mexico which boasted 100,000 spindles.

Aside from these large state-owned enterprises, small and medium-sized as well as private enterprises have also set foot in this emerging market.

Dong Yuejun, general manager of the Ximo Electronic Appliances Company (XEAC) in Yuyao City in east China's Zhejiang Province, said his company will make a thorough review of the Latin American market after the commodity fair and then seek for further movement.

So far, the company has received regular orders from Chile and Peru, said Dong.

A Chilean businessman who had started cooperation with the XEAC earlier this year said the company's products are competitive in physical design, quality and pricing.

Statistics show that the trade volume between China and the Latin American region totaled US$9.42 billion during the first eight months of this year, up 15.4 per cent over the same period of last year. The export value of China stood at around US$5. 418 billion, a year-on-year increase of 16.8 per cent.