Flower market opens for business

The 10,800-square-metre flower market with a total investment of about 100 million yuan ($12 million) is expected to become a major flower distribution centre in Southeast Asia, according to sources with Shanghai Metropolis Company, the investor.

It is also expected to promote the economy of Huangpu District where the market is located.

In 1990, flower sales in the whole country were only about 600 million yuan ($72.5 million) while last year, they netted over 20 billion yuan ($2.4 billion) which is almost 20 times as much as that of 1998.

Though consumer spending on flowers is fast increasing in the country, Chinese people still only buy 1/200 the amount of people in developed countries, according to sources of the company.

A survey from the company said that there are about 30 flower markets in the city, but there are only one or two selling flowers only.

So both markets of the cut flower and house plant in both the country and the city have great potential, said the Shanghai Metropolis Company.

The new flower market, which offers wholesale as well as retail buying, also features telephone booking, e-commerce, express delivery, flower arrangements for meetings and rents out plants.

The market has a wide range of imported flowers including tulips from The Netherlands, orchids from Thailand, red roses from Colombia and lilies from Austria.

Yunan, Jilin and Zhejiang provinces have contracts to supply the market with their famous horticultural varieties.

Shanghai Star