Jin jing/Shanghai Daily news

A new store designed to capitalize on last year's trade pact between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong is scheduled to open early next month on Shanghai's Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall.
Called hk:M, short for Hong Kong mall, the outlet will be located in the Sendnes Shopping Center. It will feature more than 72 mid-to-high-range Hong Kong brands, including clothing, creative goods, food, jewelry and Disney products.
"A lot of overseas brands have flocked into Shanghai, but there was no store specializing in Hong Kong brands, which gave us a market opportunity," said Jin Chenglong, general manager of HK:M.
Shoppers will be able to benefit from price reductions that resulted from the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement between the special administrative region and the mainland.
The trade deal, which eliminated import tariffs on about 1,000 categories of products, took effect on January 1, 2004. It will be expanded to all Hong Kong products at the start of next year.
Shoppers who visit the store will benefit from other discounts as well.
"Products in our store will be 20 percent cheaper than that in Hong Kong due to lower operating costs for property leasing and employee salaries in Shanghai," Jin said.
He said the business will be operated on a trial basis at first to gauge market response.
"We would like to know which products are welcomed in the local market," Jin said. "We hope to introduce more products in the coming year and expand to the entire Yangtze Delta Region."
An analyst for the Shanghai Commercial Economic Research Institution was optimistic about the store's prospects.
"People are attracted to Hong Kong products because of their high quality and unique handiwork," he said. "Perhaps the store will also encourage mainland makers to speed up innovation of their own products."