Hong Kong seen as stepping stone to global market

Companies in East China's Jiangsu province are increasing their stakes in Hong Kong given the city's good investment environment and preferential policies.

Goodbaby Group, a leading manufacturer of children's products, has founded a research center and several companies in Hong Kong since 2000.

Song Zhenghuan, founder and president, said Hong Kong serves as a good platform for the group to go global and introduce world-class brands into the mainland.

"Hong Kong is a perfect match with our corporate strategy which focuses on innovation, quality and global development," said Song. "It serves as an important bridge between China's mainland and the overseas markets.

"With its advantage in law, trading, finance, marketing and talents, our group has achieved a lot in promoting in the overseas markets and introducing global resources".

The group, established in 1989, supplies one third of the baby strollers in China, North America and Europe.

Suning Appliance, the mainland's home appliance giant, said it hopes to make up 25 percent of Hong Kong's home appliance market share within three years.

"Our first goal is to develop Suning into a well-known brand in Hong Kong, then use its excellent business environment to carry out our strategy to expand overseas," said Gong Zhenyu, assistant to the president of Suning.

"With its population of more than 7 million and visitors of more than 30 million, the home appliance market can reach about HK$25 billion, equivalent to big cities on the mainland such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou."

"Most of Hong Kong's home appliance stores are of small size and lack standardization," Gong said. "We have the advantage in these aspects, and have great expectations for the Hong Kong market".

Founded in 1990, Suning now owns more than 1,000 stores in 300 cities on the mainland.