WHILE locals?enthusiasm for a trip to Hong Kong ?dubbed a “shopping paradise??seems to be always on the rise, businesses there are now ready to enable Shanghainese to enjoy a closer Hong Kong shopping experience ?right in Shanghai.

In a bid to substantially raise local people’s awareness of Hong Kong products, Hong Kong Brands and Products Expo, a trade fair organized by the Chinese Manufacturers Association of Hong Kong (CMAHK), will make its debut in Shanghai in early September, said the event’s organizers.

Scheduled to take place from September 2 to 5 at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre, the exposition signals not only a new influx of Hong Kong products, but also a tightening of economic ties between Shanghai and Hong Kong against the backdrop of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), officials said.

About 100 Hong Kong firms famous to Hong Kong residents are expected to promote their products, mainly household goods catering to the daily consumption market, at the fair, to Shanghai locals who are described as “having sharp eyes and money-sense.? The brands shown at the event include Aqua Pure, Lee Kum Kee, Nin Jiom, Sau San Tong, Tung Fong Hung, Gold Peak, Eu Yan Sang, A-Fontane, Hang Fung, Sinomax and HSBC, which in combination present a big variety of Hong Kong products that involve sectors ranging from jewellery to traditional Chinese medicine.

The event will have a total exhibition area of about 10,000 square metres and over 220 booths. However, organizers admitted that such a size is considerably smaller than that in Hong Kong.

Usually held in Hong Kong from December through January, the 66-year-old fair often has an over-28,000-square-metre area and 600-plus booths. Last year, it attracted over 1.85 million visitors in Hong Kong.

“To us, it’s merely a pilot that we expect will significantly help in promoting Hong Kong products among local residents,?said Kui Ming-wah, chairman of the event’s executive committee.

The ultimate goal is to assist Hong Kong companies to better tap the vast domestic market, given Shanghai’s leading business position in the Chinese mainland, according to Jose Sunsay Yu, president of CMAHK.

Statistics indicate that a total of 233 batches of zero-tariff Hong Kong products worth about US$17.6 million were imported into Shanghai during the January-July period this year, accounting for about one third of the total inflow into the mainland in accordance with the CEPA framework.