"The price of toys and porcelains rose by 15% this year. Foreign buyers might need some time to accept the rise", a manager of a porcelain company said at Phrase II of the China Import and Export Fair (CIEF).

A foreign purchaser is selecting Christmas gifts at a booth in the Pazhou Complex, Guangzhou. (Guangzhou Daily photo)

Factors contributing to the price rise.

In 2007, the porcelain industry export tax refund decreased from 13% to 5-8%. The higher standards of porcelain imports in developed countries, hardware limitations of China's energy consumption and the higher prices of raw materials and fuel are the factors contributing to the price increases.

So far China's annual porcelain manufacture has made up 2/3 of that in the world. To pass technical barriers to trade in the U.S. and Europe, input of advanced manufacturing facilities is necessary.

China's porcelain suffers from anti-dumping.

"We Chinese manufacturers don't want to sell the porcelain at cheap prices and large quantities. Porcelain is sold to vendors on the street and we lose the overseas markets", an exhibitor at the CIEF said.

Since 2001, China's porcelain has suffered due to anti-dumping campaigns in many countries including India, Mexico and the Philippines.

Foreign buyers are more concerned about quality.

Apart from the price increase of toys, buyers from U.S. and Europe are on the alert over commodity quality.

Purchasing companies are careful to choose safe toys because they must afford the relevant legal liability, a buyer from New Zealand told Guangzhou Daily.

First two days of Phase II: 3.44 billion USD

The first two days of Phrase II of CIEF saw a 3.44 billion USD turnover. EU, U.S. and the Mid-east top the turnover, with percentages of 33%, 15.3% and 12.8% respectively.