Nasi lemak popcorn, kopi and business solutions from Singapore on display at Shanghai fair

SHANGHAI - Entrepreneur Zac Chua hopes that Chinese consumers will develop a taste for his popcorn with a Singapore twist: flavours that include nasi lemak, chilli crab and kaya butter toast.

His snack company, The Savoury Nosh, is one of 44 businesses from the Republic exhibiting their products and services – from local delights to cross-border business solutions – at the annual China International Import Expo in Shanghai.

Through the six-day trade show, which runs till Nov 10, these businesses are keen to secure a larger slice of the potentially-lucrative Chinese market, despite headwinds that have dampened the outlook of the world’s second-largest economy.

Mr Chua, whose products range from popcorn to corn sticks and are sold in 11 countries, is not too concerned that Chinese consumers have been tightening their belts. “People still need to eat,” said the first-time exhibitor, citing how the sales of his snacks had doubled during the Covid-19 pandemic.

China’s notoriously competitive business environment, which has pushed its own companies to seek profits overseas, also has not deterred him from wanting to establish a presence in the Chinese market.

He believes that his snacks, with their Singapore brand and unique flavours, will stand out from the competition. There has already been interest from potential Chinese distributors at the fair, he said.

Also looking to gain a foothold in the world’s second-largest consumer market is traditional coffee roaster Kim Guan Guan.

It entered China in mid-2024, supplying traditional coffee to Singapore restaurants in Shanghai. Its Kim’s Duet kopi bags are also sold on e-commerce platform Taobao.

The tea-drinking nation’s growing appetite for coffee presents “an opportunity for us to come in”, said the company’s second-generation owner Nigel Soon.

He aims to introduce more Chinese consumers in both first and second-tier cities to traditional Singapore brews, which is “something very fresh and very new” to a population that has largely been exposed to only western-style coffee.

Apart from targeting Chinese shoppers’ discretionary spending, businesses from the Republic are also looking to provide services with demand that is less susceptible to consumers’ whims.

RMA Contracts, which helps companies outsource their business processes, entered China in 2022 to tap firms’ growing desire to expand into South-east Asia.

“A lot of clients tell us that they feel the China market is very juan (involuted), with profits increasingly thin, so they are trying the international market to find a new path (to boost earnings),” said business partnership manager Celia Yin.

The company has an office in the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city, and is thinking of expanding into less traditional destinations such as Chongqing – where there has been growing interest in RMA’s services, business director Sharon Cheong told ST.

It signed an agreement on Nov 6 with local officials to create a service platform for foreign businesses entering the Eco-city, and Chinese companies venturing into South-east Asia.

Also looking to tap China’s appetite for internationalisation is Edtech Plus, an education services firm.

The company’s vice-president Zheng Wanting said it is cooperating with Chinese partners to bring Singapore courses to China - and vice versa - in both online and offline formats.

For instance, it is working with SMU Academy, the professional training arm of SMU, to provide courses in China on topics including environmental, social and governance standards, she said.

It is also working with a subsidiary of tech giant Alibaba to develop courses on live-streaming and e-commerce, which will be available in Singapore, she added. This comes under an agreement inked at the Singapore-China trade and investment forum on Nov 6, organised by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) on the sidelines of the expo.

Singapore firms signed 15 agreements valued at over S$60 million with their Chinese counterparts, in industries ranging from healthcare to trade.

The SBF organises annual delegations to the Shanghai import fair, with the group this year comprising 44 companies - down from 84 in 2019, and 56 in 2023.

The fair is a showcase of international products and services, ranging from cheeses and cosmetics to robots and accounting services. Big name companies there include UK’s Macallan, South Korea’s Samsung and Qualcomm from the US.

Overall foreign business participation in the trade show has dropped from a pre-pandemic high, official figures show.

Although turnout has improved since 2023, the number of foreign exhibitors fell 10 per cent from over 3,800 in 2019 to less than 3,500 in 2024.

This comes as the Chinese economy faces headwinds such as slower growth, and a persistent property slump that has depressed domestic demand.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang, at the opening ceremony of the expo on Nov 5, reiterated his country’s commitment towards opening up its market amid a rising tide of protectionism worldwide.

SBF chief executive Kok Ping Soon noted that some Singapore companies are adopting a “wait-and-see” approach to the Chinese market, and that others which already have a presence in China may see less of a need to scout for new buyers at the fair.

There were also firms which had opted to participate in the trade show on their own, without going through the business chamber, he added.

China’s large consumer market – with a middle-income population estimated at over 400 million people and counting – present opportunities for Singapore businesses looking to expand their reach, he told ST.

“Our businesses take a long view of China,” said Mr Kok, emphasising the importance of maintaining a market presence amid the “ups and downs in economic cycles”.