Trade with China gets personal

As the last day of the China Trade Week drew to a close in Nairobi, visitors surged in before the doors closed at 4 pm to pick up bargains and secure contacts.

Bargaining had started in earnest at noon among customers who were determined to buy high-quality products. Exhibitors soon ran out of business cards and opted to write down the names of prospective partners.

Made-in-China solar lamps, wigs and steam irons were among the items generating lots of interest at the Kenyatta International Convention Center.

Samwel Nyagudi, an electrical instructor at Kisumu Rotary Youth Training College in western Kenya, traveled overnight to visit the fair. He was interested in green energy products, which are popular in his hometown.

He was not disappointed. "The exhibition has a wide variety of products on show, and I have also seen innovations that have not yet reached this market," said Nyagudi, who often attends workshops held by development partners keen on increasing the use of new technology in rural Kenya. "I have learned a lot."

However, he is more excited about the bargains he picked up.

"The price was very affordable," he said, pointing at the converter and two solar streetlights with LED. "I have saved on what I could have originally spent."

Nyagudi, who also bought a solar panel, said although Kisumu is a growing city, the product range is limited with few shops.

"I want to be an agent, too," he said. "I have exchanged my contacts with various traders and we have agreed to talk again."

Mark Hu, regional director of Choice International from Guangzhou, Guangdong province, a company specializing in Lontor-branded solar lamps, said he had sold 14 of the total 18 cartons he had shipped into the country.

Each carton holds 30 items. "Our prices are competitive and the quality is unrivalled," he said.

The company wants to establish its presence in Kenya. "We already have a market in Nigeria with 90 percent market share and a branch in neighboring Tanzania. Kenya is an attractive market and that is why I am here," he said.

"I have established good contacts in the last three days and I hope to pursue them. It will be easy because I am based in the region and this market is still open."

The Chinese company is ready to back the marketing expenses an agent incurs to introduce the product, as long as the entrepreneur owns a shop and is importing directly from China.

His upbeat mood was shared by Emma Ran, export department deputy general manager for Sino Capital Crown Beijing Steel Co Ltd.

Her company was in Kenya looking for distributors and agents for their steel products.

"We want an entrepreneur who owns a warehouse and can import at least 200 metric tons," she said.

"We have a big market in Tanzania and Mozambique through our European distributors."

Although Kenya is an attractive business proposition, Ran said that to expand market in the country is difficult because it has been hard to find a reliable local agent.

Michael Munyao, chairman of the China-Africa Friend-ship Association Kenya Chapter, a group that promotes trade between Kenyan and Chinese entrepreneurs, said this is a problem that crops up regularly.

"Entrepreneurs from both sides have to carry out due diligence before engaging in any business," said Munyao, also an entrepreneur whose businesses rely on Chinese imports.

He said that although in the past the association has not received any reports about business problems between local and Chinese traders, the association is ready to investigate requests about the legi timacy of any Chinese operations. "Once a Chinese company name is forwarded to us, we liaise with the Chinese embassy here and the Chinese local government authorities, with whom we have partnerships, to establish crucial information about the credibility of the company," he added.

Chinese businesses should do the same, he said. "We have furnished information about local establishments such as registration, tax compliance status and even board members," Munyao said. There is no charge for the checks.

Complaints about the quality of Chinese products had been an issue in the past. However, he said, Kenyan consumers are becoming aware that the problems had originated from unscrupulous local traders who were out to make a quick buck selling subpar products.