Xinhua Silk Road: Upcoming int'l sourcing conference draws crowds of foreign purchasers to Linyi Trade City

Beijing (ANTARA/PRNewswire)- After spending just half a day thoroughly viewing samples of building materials, hardware and home supplies, Arab merchant Ala was surprised by the diverse, reasonably-priced goods at the International Sourcing Center of Linyi Trade City.

After spotting stores of many upstream factories at the center, Ala felt reassured to learn that more than 2,000 international purchasers would arrive for the 4th Linyi Trade City International Sourcing Conference on October 28-30.

Earlier, on September 28, Linyi Trade City, a hub of professional wholesale markets in Linyi City of east China's Shandong Province, launched its International Sourcing Center to bolster foreign trade.

Instead of rushing between relatively separated markets and factories, foreign purchasers can now enjoy one-stop purchasing services at the center, where 324 foreign trade enterprises and 698 corporate stores gather.

As one store is usually closely linked with more than 10 upstream factories, the center connects local manufacturers and establishes a large-scale, standardized supply chain for foreign purchasers.

Home to 136 professional wholesale markets and 63,700 stores, Linyi City, better known as the logistics capital of China, sees busy transactions of over 6 million types of commodities across 27 categories.

Boasting convenient logistics routes linking localities across China, China-Europe freight train services and overseas warehouses, the city has been favored by Chinese and foreign purchasers for its relatively low logistics costs.

While well-developed logistics channels ensure that goods can flow out, digitization and preferential policies of the market procurement trade pilot program and the cross-border e-commerce pilot zone jointly support Linyi's robust foreign trade.

Currently, 28,000 corporate clients have registered on Linyi Trade City's digital trade platform "ChinaMarket", which generated an export volume of 18.13 billion yuan in the first half of this year.

While holding regular outgoing promotional activities, Linyi City is dedicated to building itself into a globally influential commodity distribution center and turning the "ChinaMarket" into a shared marketplace for all.