HK's first eCommerce festival to help local brands expand into China

Hong Kong will hold its first eCommerce festival next month to help local brands expand into mainland China, according to the city’s finance chief.  

Secretary of finance Paul Chan said on his Sunday blog that while Hong Kong has seen an increase in online retail sales over the past few years, there is still considerable room for growth when compared with the mainland. 

As such, the city is going to hold its first-ever “eCommerce Easy Festival” on mainland eCommerce platforms throughout August, with more than 230 brands participating. 

The festival will cover six major categories, including clothing accessories, personal care and cosmetics, household products, food and beverages, digital toys and nutritional supplements, said Chan.  

The HKTDC will place advertisements on major social and eCommerce platforms in the mainland to gain more traffic for Hong Kong businesses’ online stores.

In late August, the HKTDC will also invite about 20 well-known mainland anchors to conduct livestreams for dozens of brands on large mainland eCommerce platforms, allowing more mainland customers to learn about Hong Kong products. 

This first ever eCommerce festival in the city aims to help local small and medium-sized enterprises to tap into new audiences in the mainland and inject new ideas into business landscape.  

On the other hand, mainland consumers can directly and conveniently access and purchase high-quality, genuine Hong Kong products.  

The move also helps different Hong Kong products enter the mainland market more widely and polishes Hong Kong brands. A promotional video featuring Chan has also been launched to support the event.  

The eCommerce Easy Festival is introduced under the dedicated fund on branding, upgrading and domestic sales, which aims to subsidise small and medium enterprises with at least HK$1 million to venture into the mainland market and will later support other markets as well.   

Additionally, the authorities have allocated HK$500 million in funding to assist Cyberport in launching the Digital Transformation Support Pilot Programme (DTSPP), which will assist the catering and retail industries accelerate digitisation.

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