TAIPEI: Major mainland supermarkets, department stores and wholesalers, intent on buying products from local producers, will arrive in Taiwan next week. Eighty-five companies will join the mainland's second purchasing delegation to Taiwan, according to the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA).

The delegation with 167 corporate representatives is scheduled to arrive on July 12. They come from four mainland municipalities - Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing - and 11 provinces.

The delegation includes well-known retail chains such as Beijing's Hualian Group and Wangfujing Department Store. Anhui province's Hefei Department Store Group, ranked as the mainland's 15th largest supermarket chain, has sent its representative. Hubei province's Wuhan Zhongbai Group, which has four department stores and more than 650 home appliance stores and supermarkets, is on the tour, along with Fujian province's Milan Spring Mart, which has 78 outlets. There's Fujian's Yonghui Supermarket, which has 150 supermarkets.

The delegation will focus on products such as specialty foods of Taiwan, fruit, daily products and handicrafts, said TAITRA.

Meng Xiaowei, the deputy director of the Ministry of Commerce's Department of Commercial Services Administration, will head the delegation.

TAITRA said a conference will gather at the Taipei International Conference Center on July 13 to discuss how Taiwan businesses can seize opportunities created by the mainland's policy of expanding domestic demand.

TAITRA chairman Wang Chih-kang and Meng will speak at the conference. A representative of the mainland's Association of Economy and Trade Across the Taiwan Straits (AETATS) will deliver the keynote speech, explaining opportunities generated by mainland's domestic demand and relevant procurement policies.

The first mainland purchasing delegation visited Taiwan between May 31 and June 5, placing more than $2 billion of orders for home appliances and consumer electronics.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 07/08/2009 page2)