The 25th East China Fair 2015, a prestigious and preferred exhibition that attracts hundred and thousands of exhibitors and visitors of national and international fashion, gifting, and home furnishing business community opened on 1st March at the Shanghai New International Expo Center in the Pudong New Area. The fair will go on till Thursday, 5th March.

Companies taking part in the East China Fair are targeting the higher-end market to be more competitive but the still-weak global economy and sluggish demand loom large in their strategic planning.

Irma Sun, research and development director at Shartex International Trading Co, a textile and clothes maker at the fair, said that to be competitive, they have to transform to a higher-end market. Although they are in a traditional industry, they use a lot of technology in their production.

Shartex has partnered with Japanese technology firm Toray to produce absorbent-dry and ultraviolet-cut clothes. It has also teamed up with Swarovski to make accessories for clothes. To respond quickly to market demand and become a custom-made producer of clothes, Shartex uses digital printing in its production to beef up its added value.

Although China can now offer upgraded products and the weakening yuan is in the interest of Chinese exporters, traders at the fair said that they are cautiously optimistic about the export outlook this year due to uncertainties in external demand.

Josie Peng, general manager of Dongyang Jirong Plastic Industrial Co, a company making environment-friendly and recycled bags for markets including Japan, South Korea and the European Union sadi that they hope to expand into more markets but the global economy may remain weak and constrain the demand.

The East China fair is supported by Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China and co-sponsored by 6 provinces and 3 cities. The total exhibition area is of 115, 000 sqm with 5,780 standard booths thereby allowing to showcase a variety of products on a large parameter. The product range encompasses Home Textiles, Fashion Garments, Home Furnishing Products, Art Deco Gifts, and other Consumer Goods.

Within 5 days, the show will welcome around 21,400 international business visitors and 14,000 Chinese counterparts. These visitors are going to engage in developing strong trade relation with more than 3441 exhibitors from 10 countries and regions including Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Iran, Columbia, Nepal, Western Samoa.