Leather firms rent floor in top Chinese shopping mall

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

This file picture shows a model posing during a show of a leading Turkish leather firm. Top Turkish leather firms are in bid to attract rich Chinese consumers by opening shops in a leading mall next year as large markets like Russia and EU are contracting.

The Leather Garment Manufacturers’ Association of Turkey (TDKD) has rented an entire floor in the Haining China Leather City Shopping Center, which attracts 5 million people a year.

The local leather firms aim to tap into the Chinese luxury retail market and will start introducing their products in 25 shops beginning in August 2013, according to a statement by TDKD. The combined area of the shops totals 8,500 square meters.

This a big step by the Turkish leather sector to enter China’s luxury leather market, said TDKD President Ali Dinç, according to the statement. “We go to [China] to sell top-tier luxury goods. China now wants to put on high quality dresses,” he said. “The goods on sale will be 100 percent Turkish products,” he said.
“The largest [export] market of the leather sector was Russia followed by the EU. The Russian market is contracting and has now become mature while exports to the EU have fallen 30 percent due to the economic crisis. These crises have pushed us to search for new markets. There are 300 millionaires in China, according statistics. This whets the appetite of entrepreneurs all over the world,” he said.

China is the world’s largest leather buyer, said Haining China Leather City Vice President Li Zongrong.
“We are looking forward to seeing Turkish leather products. There are 3,200 shops here. About 5.1 million people visit this shopping center, which has recorded a $12 billion turnover. We will open five more shopping centers. We plan to open a shopping center in a different city every year. Next year we will open one in Beijing. Turkish firms will have their places in each of those five cities,” he said.