Ningbo businesses bring more than products to Frankfurt

Bao Yong of Yuyao Yuchang Electrical Appliance Co (right) gives a customer a Ningbo-themed fridge magnet at the company's booth. [Photo/Yongpai app] 

About 100 Ningbo companies took part in Automechanika Frankfurt from Sept 8 to 12, bringing not only automotive products but also small pieces of their home city to one of the industry's biggest international gatherings.

This effort is part of a Ningbo initiative that taps local exporters' overseas networks to introduce the city through trade fairs and face-to-face exchanges.

Yang Yuhui, general manager of Ningbo Huadian Off-Road Auto Accessories Co, packed badges, scratch-art cards, and puzzle cubes of Ningbo alongside the company's vehicle accessories, with one of the company's German partners of more than six years delighted with the gifts, saying he hoped to visit Ningbo soon.

Yuyao Yuchang Electrical Appliance Co secured six prospective projects with Bosch, with the two sides planning to launch work lights, inspection lamps, headlamps, and flashlights for automotive repair and industrial and safety applications in 2027. Annual purchases are estimated at $3 million. 

In a more personal exchange, two German clients told Yuchang general manager Bao Yong that they had started learning Chinese and asked how to count from one to 10.

For exporters accustomed to crossing borders with products and catalogs, the Frankfurt trip offered another way to connect: giving people a glimpse of the city behind the products.