The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is rolling out seminars and consultancy services on Mainland China’s booming e-commerce market in the run-up to the second edition of its Hong Kong Shopping Festival, which will be held in August.
The Festival is a month-long promotion to help SMEs raise their profile and boost online sales via the mainland’s e-commerce channels.
The seminars, part of an expanded offering this year, focus on specific pain points for Hong Kong SMEs to help them broaden their footprint in Mainland China.
Topics include selling strategies, payment tools, working with influencers and livestreaming production. Seminar details can be found here.
In another new addition, SMEs can also seek advice from e-commerce and online marketing experts in one-on-one consultancy sessions facilitated by the HKTDC.
Stephen Liang, Assistant Executive Director of the HKTDC, said that close trade relations with Mainland China can give Hong Kong SMEs a head start in tapping the world’s largest e-commerce market.
“The mainland leads the way in the world’s online retail market, which underscores the huge business potential for Hong Kong’s SMEs,” he noted.
According to data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics, online retail sales topped CNY15.5 trillion (US$2.1 trillion) in 2024, a 7.2% increase year-on-year.
This year’s Hong Kong Shopping Festival will feature a variety of promotional channels, including livestreaming sales fronted by notable influencers and backed by a consumer marketing drive.
Online shopping plays an integral role in the Chinese Government’s plans for economic growth.
In April last year, the Ministry of Commerce unveiled a three-year action plan to promote digital commerce that includes multiple nationwide campaigns as well as coordinated e-commerce and logistics development.
Overall, the plan comprises 20 detailed measures, according to the ministry, covering initiatives to further push digital consumption and strengthen supply chains.
A variety of stimulus measures to boost consumer spending have been implemented, one of the core pillars of China’s current Five-Year Plan.
Local Governments have been raising the minimum wage to increase spending power among lower-income groups, a key priority to stimulate more consumption nationwide.
Policymakers are also expanding a trade-in program for consumer goods, which was introduced in March last year to encourage households to upgrade their home appliances by partially subsidising new purchases.
Four more categories – microwave ovens, water purifiers, dishwashers and rice cookers – are being added to the consumer goods trade-in list.
At the same time, the Government is also rolling out more subsidies for digital goods, such as mobile phones, tablets and smart wearables, while broadening the range of eligible passenger vehicles, to help support these sectors by driving more sales.
