Online shopping mall connects with Chinese site

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Online shopping mall connects with Chinese site


In China, the term “haitao” is used to refer to consumers who buy goods online from overseas, and industry insiders say that the about 18 million haitao in the country are looking to buy anything from cell phones to snacks.

Korean companies are eager to grab a share of the haitao, which is a combination of the word “hai” meaning sea and “tao” meaning consumption. The group spent 27 trillion won ($25 billion) shopping online last year, according to the China E-Commerce Research Center.

In line with the growing haitao market, the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) stepped up to improve their access to Korean goods online.

KITA announced on Thursday that it signed a memorandum of understanding with Liangjiang New Area in Chongqing, China, to boost online and offline sales.

Chongqing, with a population of 30 million, is home to a popular state-run online shopping mall called I Get Mall.

KITA said that starting next month, Chinese consumers who use I Get Mall will see a separate section on the website reserved for Korean goods. The section will connect them to Kmall24, which KITA opened in June. About 800 local SMEs sell 8,000 products at the online mall.

The trade association said that it will also display Korean items at markets in Liangjiang New Area so that Chinese consumers can see them in person.

“It will be an opportunity to promote top-quality Korean goods made by SMEs to the 400 million consumers in the areas around Chongqing,” said Ahn Hyun-ho, the vice chairman of KITA. “We will try to expand the deal to other cities like Shanghai and Ningbo.”

kjoo@joongang.co.kr [BY KIM JOON-SOOL, JOO KYUNG-DON]
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