"We try to establish our reputation and brand," Wan Renquan, the factory salesman, said. "We'll stress to promote our brand while selling products internationally," he added.

At the newly closed East China Fair in Shanghai, a lot of Chinese enterprises showed off their brands instead of simply displaying their products in the past, for example, local famous brands of Lansheng shoes and brands of nationwide fame as Three Gun underclothes, Firs and Youngor suits and shirts.

"This reflects that Chinese enterprises have changed their minds and are trying to follow international standards, besides improvement in product techniques and quality," said Kazuyuki Okada from Niigata, Japan. "Chinese products can no longer be all labeled for having a rough finished and low price," this Japanese kitchen appliances dealer said.

Bosideng, China's No.1 brand for down coats based in Changshu in east Jiangsu Province, has registered the brand and patented itin 68 countries and regions. "I think a prestigious brand suggests high quality and producer's strength, and also means special styleand responsibilities for customers," remarked Gan Lingyun, a young lady and development manager of the Bosideng Company.

"Our goal is to make our brand an internationally established and recognized," she added.

Bosideng' domestic sales revenue reached 2 billion yuan (US$241 million) last year, accounting for half of the domestic market, and it exported US$75 million in the same year. Many foreign famous clothes companies, like Boss, Gap and Polo, came to ask for cooperation.

Economic experts said more and more distinctive Chinese enterprises and Chinese products of international brand fame will come into being as they endeavor to improve quality and reputationto meet fiercer competition when China enters the World Trade Organization.

The 11th East China Fair is a grand annual occasion featuring foreign trade. This year's fair attracted some 3,000 domestic businesses.

Economic analysts commented that enterprises attending the fairwere paying more attention to lifting their comprehensive competitive edge, and to promote their brands so that they would be internationally renowned.

The Ningbo Delegation, one of the delegations attending the fair, was composed of mainly medium- and small-sized enterprises, yet half of which began to set up their own brand names and realized an export sales volume 30 percent higher than at the fairlast year.

Premier Zhu Rongji said at the fourth session of the Ninth People Congress that the country's foreign trade volume will tota US$l680 billion in 2005. The premier stressed to increasetechniques and added value for Chinese traditional export goods.

"The government is expecting traditional export-oriented goodswith competitive predominance including raw material and labor to further enhance competitiveness and establish their own brands of international fame," said Yu Danhua, government official of the Ningbo Delegation.

(Eastday.com 04/08/2001)