MAGIC China Will Provide Brands With Strategies, Introductions for Entering the Chinese Market

Brands looking to break into the Chinese market will get an assist from MAGIC this fall when the trade show giant launches MAGIC China, a three-day boot camp to get companies up to speed on what it will take to enter the fast-growing Chinese market.

The Oct. 24–26 event in Shanghai will include workshops and panel discussions with industry experts, distributors and consultants for international brands, including Nautica, Nike and Tory Burch. There will be retail tours and the opportunity to meet with mall owners and real estate developers. Organizers will also hold consumer focus groups specializing in affordable luxury, street fashion and juniors. Plus, there will be introductions with potential partners, as well as banquets, cocktail parties and other social gatherings.

Attendees will learn about the many strategies for entering the Chinese market, including using a distributor, forming a joint venture and finding licensing partners.

MAGIC’s parent company, Advanstar, hired Courtney Harold as vice president of international development to help organize the project. Harold was previously director of business development at ENK International and helped launch ENKChina, which bowed last year during the March 28–31 run of China International Clothing and Accessories Fair (CHIC) in Beijing.

The news was announced during a Feb. 13 seminar titled “China, the Dragon in Transition: Sourcing From and Selling to the World’s Apparel Giant,” held at the Las Vegas Convention Center during Sourcing at MAGIC in Las Vegas.

Moderated by SGS Testing’s Katherine Stein, the seminar featured panelists Josh Green, chief executive officer of sourcing website Panjiva, and Renee Hartmann, founder of the China Luxury Network, which provides brands with business intelligence and strategies “to win the Chinese luxury consumer at home and abroad.”

“We believe [China is] the biggest opportunity for a generation of brands,” Hartmann said.

Hartmann said the opportunity exists even for companies that are not looking to open stores in China. Brands looking to capture Chinese tourist business need to understand this growing market.

“China is a demographic, not a geography,” she said.