(Yicai) April 30 -- Major retail chains in Shanghai are offering shelf space to struggling Chinese exporters, assisting them to sell goods locally after the US government’s steep Reciprocal Tariffs blocked their shipments abroad. Many exporters said this will help them avoid serious losses and that they plan to link arms with these retailers to focus on the domestic market.

RT-Mart has set up a special exhibition of products meant for export, but which have not yet been shipped, on the first floor of one of its Shanghai outlets. The sales promotion will run through the upcoming five-day Labor Day holiday and similar expos will be held in its stores in other cities as well, Qin Cong, procurement director of the Taipei-based hypermarket chain, told Yicai.

The sale has attracted a lot of shoppers, as most of the products are being sold at stiff discounts, costing only 20 percent to 30 percent of what they would cost abroad.

“Foreign trade products are usually high quality, and with prices this low, I bought quite a lot,” said a man surnamed He, who purchased several storage cabinets.

Zhejiang Weilaoda Industrial & Trading was able to get everything ready for the expo in just three days, as the bamboo products supplier already has existing business ties with RT-Mart, executive Bao Qiaoqin told Yicai. At the moment, daily sales amount to around CNY5,000 (USD688).

Weilaoda is selling its bamboo chopping boards for between CNY10 (USD1.37) and CNY30, far less than the USD19 that the most expensive item fetches in the US, Bao said.

Shanghai Shenwei Plastic Products makes thermos bottles, cups and storage cabinets. At the moment the company is turning over around CNY5,000 a day and this is expected to increase over the Labor Day holiday, which runs from May 1 to May 5, sales director Jiang Yiyi said.

The products are being sold at a significant discount compared to what the firm would charge in the US, Jiang said. For instance, a storage cabinet that is priced at USD300 in the US is being sold for only CNY420 (USD57) here.

Customized Products

Exporters are willing to slash prices in order to clear out unsold inventory that was intended for export and avoid any additional expenses.

"Obviously, with these prices, we are selling at a loss, but if we do not offload the stock, the storage costs will be even higher,” said Bao. “Our top priority right now is to keep the factories running and to minimize losses.”

"We hope that by participating in this exhibition, we can identify which products are suitable for the domestic market. This will allow us to customize our products to local consumers and we will adjust the retail prices accordingly," Bao said.

Shenwei Plastic plans to shift about 70 percent of its business to the domestic market, and it will design and price its key products according to local requirements, Jiang said. Customizing products for the China market will allow the company and its factories to stay afloat.

In addition to RT-Mart, other retail giants such as Bailian Group and Lianhua Supermarket Holdings are also rolling out similar in-store and online promotions to help exporters offload the products that they are unable to sell overseas.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor