Top buyers including Atico, Coles Group Asia, Kmart, Staples, Office Depot and Target Australia pre-registered to attend Global Sources' spring China Sourcing Fairs

HONG KONG, April 20, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Global Sources (NASDAQ: GSOL) opened a series of China Sourcing Fairs today at Hong Kong's AsiaWorld-Expo. Combined, the shows feature 2,000 booths offering buyers a convenient way to source directly from Greater China and Asia suppliers.

Running through April 23, the co-located events are China Sourcing Fairs: Gifts & Premiums, Home Products, Baby & Children's Products, Christmas & Seasonal Products, Medical & Health Products and Solar & Energy Saving Products.

"Buyers from around the globe are converging on the AsiaWorld-Expo today to see a wide variety of products from Greater China's top suppliers," said Tommy Wong, President of Global Sources Exhibitions. "China continues to move up the value chain and to bring more innovative products to the China Sourcing Fairs every year."

In addition, Global Sources' specialized India Sourcing Fair: Home Products and Korea Sourcing Fair: Gifts & Premiums provide buyers a convenient way to source for high quality gifts, premiums and home products from India and Korea under one roof.

Among the thousands of buyers pre-registered to attend the Fairs are Atico, Coles Group Asia, Dollar Tree, Folli Follie, Kmart, Lafuma, Office Depot, Staples, Target Australia, Tesco and The Children's Place.

"Green" products highlight at the Fairs

"Many of the world's leading retailers are sourcing more environmentally sustainable products. In response to this, we are adding green initiatives at our shows to facilitate more effective 'green' sourcing for buyers," said Wong.

To help buyers and suppliers to source for and to market environmental-friendly, the Fairs include a new Green Product Gallery with more than 150 products. Buyers and suppliers can also attend a series of "Growing Your Green Business" seminars which cover the hottest topics from innovative green technologies to successful green marketing rules, giving them valuable advice on how to tap into the emerging and lucrative green market.

Value-added services to facilitate buyers and suppliers to trade more effectively

To help buyers and exhibitors meet and do business more effectively, Global Sources is organizing a series of special on-site activities at the Fairs. These include:

• Color Trends Areas feature color forecasts for gifts, premiums and home products in Hall 5.
• Online Sourcing Fairs are web-based platforms for the physical shows designed to help boosting the sourcing productivity for buyers and exhibition investment for suppliers before, during and after the physical shows.
• Private Sourcing Events allow pre-selected exhibitors exclusive opportunities to meet large global companies in private during the shows. Ten sourcing teams from buyers including Amscan, Bardahl, Caben, Direct Sourcing Group, METRO GROUP, OSRAM, Restaurant Services and Targmex are scheduled to participate, with a combined annual sales of more than US$530 billion.
• Global Sources Product Gallery. Physical and digital product gallery which features innovative products from hundreds of verified suppliers unable to attend the shows, allows buyers to send direct inquiries on the spot -- greatly extending their sourcing reach and efficiency at the shows.
• Global Sources Show Guide magazines. Fourteen enhanced sourcing magazines that incorporate the Fair show guides -- featuring the exhibitor list and floor map -- and a CD-ROM that contains a copy of all Global Sources' eMagazines, are being distributed to buyers on-site. This one-of-a-kind initiative puts in buyers' hands information on hundreds of additional verified suppliers and their products, boosting the productivity of their show visit.

Opening times for the Fairs are:

• April 20-22 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• April 23 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Buyers can register for free admission and find more information, including details about free transport to the venue and back, at the China Sourcing Fairs website: http://www.chinasourcingfair.com.

About Global Sources

Global Sources is a leading business-to-business media company and a primary facilitator of trade with Greater China.

The core business facilitates trade between Asia and the world using English-language media such as online marketplaces (http://www.globalsources.com), print and digital magazines, sourcing research reports, private sourcing events, trade shows, and online sourcing fairs.

Over 1.18 million international buyers, including 85 of the world's top 100 retailers, use these services to obtain product and company information to help them source more profitably from overseas supply markets. These services also provide suppliers with integrated marketing solutions to build corporate image, generate sales leads and win orders from buyers in more than 240 countries and territories.

Global Sources' other businesses provides Chinese-language media to companies selling to and within Greater China. These services include online web sites, print and digital magazines, seminars and trade shows. In mainland China, Global Sources has a network of more than 40 office locations and a community of over 4 million registered online users and magazine readers of its Chinese-language media.

Now in its fifth decade, Global Sources has been publicly listed on the NASDAQ since 2000.