Ray Cheung

An $8 million campaign to promote Hong Kong brand names on the mainland was launched at a star-studded fashion extravaganza in Beijing yesterday.

Canto-pop star Gigi Leung Wing-kei was the headline attraction at the event organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. The guests were a who's who of the mainland and Hong Kong fashion worlds.

The launch marked the start of the council's four-day 'Style Hong Kong' campaign held at the China World Hotel.

Jointly organised by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the event features product exhibitions, designer shows and the screening of movies about Hong Kong filmed by mainland artists.

More than 150 companies with headquarters in Hong Kong, representing 200 product brands, from clothes to shoes, along with mainland 'trend setters' - such as fashion buyers, social critics and artists - are attending the trade fair. Hong Kong brands represented included Dorian Ho and Hauber, and designers such as Andy Tong and Francis Lee.

Organisers said the aim of the fair was to boost Hong Kong products in mainland markets by promoting the lifestyle in the special administrative region (SAR) to the mainland's growing consumer class. Hong Kong clothing companies such as Bossini and Giordano already have a strong mainland presence.

Recent market studies found annual consumer spending in major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai was growing at more than 9 per cent a year, while clothing sales in mainland department stores jumped 20 per cent in 2001.

With traditional Hong Kong export markets such as the United States and Europe saturated with competitors, and with the SAR economy in the doldrums, Hong Kong producers see the mainland as the next frontier.

'With its rising consumer power, Hong Kong companies are now jumping to the mainland,' said William Cheung, the council's senior communication manager.

This new market emphasis marks a major change in the relationship between Hong Kong and the mainland. Hong Kong manufacturers have traditionally used the mainland only for outsourcing labour and selling lower quality goods to.

About $100 billion worth of Hong Kong clothing is manufactured in the mainland every year.

Trade officials are targeting the mainland's 20 to 30-year-old professionals with middle-of-the-range consumer goods, including clothes, in the $100 to $1,000 price range.

They are banking on the popularity of Hong Kong culture on the mainland to boost their brands' competitive edges. Mainland youth are among the most avid viewers of the SAR's TV shows, and listen to SAR music.

Joyce Hui, director of the council's product promotion section, said: 'We Hong Kongers work and play hard. I think mainlanders can appreciate our lifestyle.'