Chic Hong Kong shopping festival kicks off in Shenzhen on May 26, 2023, with nearly 80 exhibitors and more than 130 brands from Hong Kong taking part in the three-day event. (ZHOU MO / China Daily)

The Chic Hong Kong shopping festival got underway in Shenzhen on Friday as the special administrative region ramps up efforts to help the SAR’s businesses tap the mainland market.

The three-day festival, jointly hosted by Hong Kong Trade Development Council and the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government, is the first large-scale event to promote Hong Kong consumer goods in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area since the full resumption of travel between the SAR and the mainland.

The event brings together nearly 80 exhibitors and more than 130 brands from Hong Kong, covering consumer electronics and technology products, smart home supplies, fashion and accessories, food and beverages, and health products. Forty percent of the exhibitors are making their debut in the mainland market.

Chic Hong Kong shopping festival kicks off in Shenzhen on May 26, 2023, with nearly 80 exhibitors and more than 130 brands from Hong Kong taking part in the three-day event. (ZHOU MO / China Daily)

The event’s launch in Shenzhen “fully shows the close and cooperative relationship between Hong Kong and Shenzhen as two brother cities”, said Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu.

“Besides classical brands, I’m delighted to see many emerging brands taking part. The fact that 40 percent of the exhibitors are making their debut in the mainland market demonstrates that more and more Hong Kong enterprises are grasping the enormous opportunities of the Greater Bay Area’s development and actively integrating into national development,” he said at the opening ceremony on Friday.

“The Greater Bay Area is an example of the ‘one-hour living circle’, which enables us to travel between two cities easier, and better promote its high-quality development. I’m confident that more Hong Kong enterprises will tap the Greater Bay Area market and explore the unlimited business opportunities of the mainland market in the future.”

Customers visit Chic Hong Kong shopping festival, which kicked off in Shenzhen on May 26, 2023. Nearly 80 exhibitors and more than 130 brands from Hong Kong are taking part in the three-day event. (ZHOU MO / China Daily)

HKTDC Chairman Peter Lam Kin-ngok said the shopping festival aims to promote the SAR’s quality brands and product design to consumers in the Greater Bay Area, drive internal circulation of the economy and increase exchanges in the region.

“The Chinese mainland market is important for us as it is massive and promising,” said Natalie Chow, co-founder of KIBO, a Hong Kong brand specializing in sustainable sneakers.

It’s the first time KIBO has entered the mainland. “Sustainable fashion is gaining increasing popularity. We want to be among the early movers to grab the opportunities brought by green development,” Chow said, adding that she plans to develop the company’s business initially in the Greater Bay Area, with a focus on Shenzhen.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of Chic Hong Kong shopping festival in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, on May 26, 2023. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

Karen Chan, founder of Sparkle Collection, a Hong Kong fashion brand featuring new-style qipao, a traditional Chinese dress also known as cheongsam, said she took the brand to the festival to “test the waters”.

With the aim of introducing the fashion label to the mainland market, Chan said she’s trying to find a mainland partner for the business. A major challenge for Hong Kong businesses in making their foray into the mainland is that they have little understanding of the market and don’t have connections there, she said.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu (center) visits stands at Chic Hong Kong shopping festival in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, on May 26, 2023. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

Besides the wide variety of products being introduced, more than 100 activities will be held at Chic Hong Kong, including the “9+2” street dance finals, a KamCha Hong Kong Style Milk Tea performance, a hip-hop performance, a daily lucky draw and free food tasting.

Contact the writer at sally@chinadailyhk.com