With the recent economic growth in mainland China, the number of middle-class families is growing daily, and the demand for products for pregnant woman, infants and children is following this trend of growth. Along with the Chinese government’s recent decision to relax the one child policy, all these factors provide extremely positive growth projections for the sale of the aforementioned products in the Chinese mainland.
As the population of infants and children in the mainland grows, so too does the average household income. According to data from Nielsen, the consumer spending figures in mainland China increased by 18% in 2015, with sales of up to 103 billion Chinese Yuan. Demand is clearly rising fast. It is our belief that the infant products available for sale in the Chinese Mainland market may not be meeting consumers high threshold for quality. This is where there is an opportunity for Hong Kong manufacturers to fill these gaps in the market; through the sale of quality tested, and excellently reviewed, Hong Kong produced infant and baby products.
While these excellent market opportunities exist, there are several barriers to entry to the Chinese Mainland marketplace (namely differences in purchasing, inspections, etc), and it can be difficult for Hong Kong manufacturers of infant and baby products to Mainland buyers. As such, the Hong Kong Maternity, Infant and Child Industry Association, together with the Hong Kong Productivity Council, successfully applied for the Hong Kong Government’s “Dedicated Fund on Branding, Upgrading and Domestic sales” (“BUD Special Fund”) in the interest of easing some of these restrictions. The BUD Special Fund will help to establish a reliable, high-quality image for Hong Kong manufacturers of baby and infant products, and for the producers of products for pregnant women. Some of the measures taken to achieve this include the creation of the Hong Kong Maternity and Infant Products industry website, and organising seminars on achieving domestic sales of our products. It is our hope that through this grant, we can establish effective channels through which Hong Kong manufacturers of maternity, baby, and infant products can enter into and better understand the Chinese Mainland marketplace.
