While promoting direct purchase of local merchandise by buyers from the Republic of Korea (ROK), Linyi Trade City, a regional wholesale markets hub in Linyi City of Shandong Province, east China, established deeper trade ties with ROK partners.
For years, goods produced in Linyi such as building materials and pet supplies have always been in brisk demand in the ROK, which spurred Linyi Trade City to explore trade channel building and public branding with ROK partners to bolster local foreign trade.
For instance, Linyi Trade City's operator helped local producers establish direct purchase relationships with over 20 quality purchasers and cross-border e-commerce platform operators from the ROK.
Invited to visit Linyi's marketplaces and workshops of local producers, ROK purchasers helped them match more precisely their product properties and production techniques with practical market demand in the ROK.
This resulted largely from Linyi Trade City's fruit-bearing promotion activities at home and abroad.
Via relentless efforts on branding, Linyi Trade City attracted about 32,000 foreign merchants from 70-plus countries to select products there in the first half of 2026, up 52 percent year on year.
In 11 countries such as the ROK and Nigeria, its first batch of overseas service stations have been deployed and serve as connectors, resource distributors and trade facilitators between Linyi Trade City and foreign clients.
Meanwhile, 202 overseas exhibition and trade promotion activities were organized by Linyi Trade City's operator together with 723 market exploration tours for local businesses in 54 countries.
"I came to Linyi three years ago and have taken part in many China-ROK business and trade events, gaining an in-depth understanding of Linyi's markets and enterprises," said a representative from the ROK cross-border e-commerce association.
In the past three years, the association has frequently organized ROK enterprises to source goods in Linyi Trade City, whose diverse products and reasonable pricing have impressed ROK buyers.
"Apart from introducing specifications and prices of our goods, we usually learn thoroughly about buyers' intentions and invite them to visit our workshops for further cooperation," said Liang Yan, manager of a local new materials producer.
So far this year, Linyi Trade City welcomed more than 50,000 foreign merchants who walked into the hub of professional wholesale marketplaces to purchase commodities of diverse types. (Edited by Duan Jing with Xinhua Silk Road, duanjing@xinhua.org)
A single purchase
