Commodity Culture Festival Marks ‘CEEC Time’ in Ningbo

The third China-Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) Expo will be held in Ningbo from May 16th to 20th. To popularize this international event, Ningbo (Beilun) CEEC Commodity and Culture Festival was officially launched recently, integrating high-quality imported goods with tourism and culture elements from CEEC by coordinating with the government, enterprises, and local culture and tourism organizations. This is known as the first major CEEC-themed consumption event in Ningbo this year.

A forthcoming shopping ambience was already in the air and could be sensed from the exhibited goods and appealing posters in the physical store of “Queen’s Shop”, a cross-border e-commerce pilot store located at Fubang Century Commercial Plaza, Beilun, Ningbo. 

Posters in the physical store. (Photo by Li Li)

According to Li Sun, manager of Queen’s Shop, they have coordinated with Ningbo Free Trade Zone Imported Commodity Market and handpicked 6 categories of (300 plus SKUs) quality products for sale, including “alcoholic beverages, cosmetics, personal care products, daily necessities, food, and other well-received CEEC specialties. We have also introduced new items based on the analysis of consumer preferences in the last two years.”

As in prior years, a sea of discounts and coupons has been issued to appeal to consumers. This year’s CEEC Commodity and Culture Festival provides bonus coupons (targeting consumers in Beilun) on top of shop-specific discounts. Queens’ Shop, for example, offers a 10% discount, allowing cumulative use of Festival money-off coupons of “20-off of 100” and digital CNY coupons of “60-off of 200”, totaling about a 45% discount.

Ji Yin, deputy director of the Bureau of Commerce, Ningbo Economic and Technological Development Zone (NETDZ), stated, “To make CEEC goods more appealing and affordable to consumers, we have handed out over 8,000 ‘lucky money’ digital CNY coupons totaling 500,000 yuan. I believe the combination of high-quality products and discounts will fully unleash consumption potentials.”

In 2022, Beilun District’s imports from CEEC increased by 55% year-on-year to 8.3 billion yuan. The import scale, accounting for 74% of Ningbo’s imports, 52% of Zhejiang’s, and 4% of China’s total, ranked first in Zhejiang province. Beilun – departure station of the “Hi-Go CEEC” commodity tour-exhibition last year – successfully put on promotions at Beilun Fubang City in addition to those at Perennial Pavilion.

Ma Ying, director of the Bureau of Commerce of NETDZ, disclosed that Beilun will not only benefit from but fully leverage its close business ties with CEE Countries this year, in line with Ningbo’s basic focus of stabilizing foreign trade and investment and promoting consumption. Specifically, it takes this Commodity and Culture Festival as a springboard, coordinating online platforms and offline shops to provide cumulative coupons to attract consumers, increase sales, and enhance domestic popularity of the China-CEEC Expo, especially CEEC high-quality products. “Citizens will be able to have easier access to delectable food, fine wine, and high-quality goods from CEEC.”

Reporter: Li Li