US firm seeks investors
(China Daily)
Updated: 2004-11-04 08:59

US-based Wholesale International, engaged in wholesaling and retailing of manufacturing products, is keen to find Chinese investors.

The project came to this booming city in South China recently to lure local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the rich Pearl River Delta region.

Covering some 150,000 square metres and located in Philadelphia, Wholesale International is designed as a home to numerous mushrooming SMEs in Asia and East Europe countries.

"China is our main targeted market," said the project's Curtis Jones, who is an assistant to the mayor of Philadelphia and director of the city's development planning office.

He said the project supplies a springboard for Chinese SMEs to carry out business in the United States, and further to North America markets.

It plans to attract about 500 Chinese SMEs to start businesses there during the first half of 2005 in its first phase investment inflow schedule.

"After moving in, the business owners, also manufacturers, are to set up direct links with the local wholesale and retail dealers. As a result trading costs will be cut significantly," said Zhang Zhiming, a project promotion manager of Wholesale International.

Statistics show that direct investment by Chinese entrepreneurs to the US is only one 10th of China's total overseas investment, which accounts for about 2 per cent of the reverse process, that is, US direct investment to China.

He said profit margins had shrunk in indirect trade, therefore, it is imperative to find a direct trade platform for manufacturers and retailers.

There are about US$50 billion worth of products carrying the "Made in China" logo sold in the US every year. However, most of the products enter the US markets via foreign trade companies, not from the manufacturers themselves.

"It's a double-layered waste, both to the manufacturers and to the consumers," said Zhang.

Close