BEIJING - Foreign buyers will throng the vast halls of China's biggest trade expo from Monday, scouting for deals on Chinese goods that U.S. and European governments complain are flooding global markets.
U.S. and EU officials are concerned their own industries won't be able to compete with China's vast industrial capacity driving down prices. "Since domestic demand for goods within China is much lower than usual and overcapacity is high across most industries, manufacturers have to cut their prices to achieve more exports."
For all the hype around China's rise in the green energy sector, exports of the"new three" accounted for only 4.5% of total shipments last year. The majority of factories are less sophisticated and depressed domestic demand leaves them at the whim of foreign buyers. "A big Western supermarket buyer used to send five-to-eight people, dressed in nice suits. I only saw one or two of them in recent years and they were just looking around."
"Foreign procurement managers coming to the fair will find many prices too low to resist and they will sign many fire-sale-like deals," Chen said.