The company behind the Silk Street Market, the Beijing tourist attraction also known as the Xiushui Market, is considering opening an outlet in Taiwan.
The Beijing Xiushui Clothing Co. Ltd. was planning to cooperate with Taiwan businesses to set up a new Xiushui Market in Taipei, said Zhang Yongping, a senior executive of the company.
The market would cover about 100,000 square meters with mainly local goods, and stall holders would be local business people, Zhang said.
"Taiwan has plenty of special local products, snacks and crafts that would be very appropriate for the development of Xiushui Market," he said.
A few cities outside the Chinese mainland, including Istanbul and some African cities, had already expressed interest in opening a Xiushui Market outlet, but the company was concentrating on Taipei, he said.
However, he declined to give details such as the company's partner, investment, planned location and timetable for a Taipei market, saying the plan was still under discussion.
Xiushui Market has been popular with overseas tourists who have flocked to buy counterfeit and knock-off luxury clothes and accessories since 1985.
Surrounded by foreign embassies and luxury hotels in the Chaoyang District, the market is described as the third best-known tourist destination in the capital after the Palace Museum and the Great Wall.
It once drew 100,000 shoppers a day, turning in more than 10 million yuan (1.2 million U.S. dollars) in taxes annually from sales of more than 100 million yuan (12 million U.S. dollars) per year.
The Xiushui company tore down the old outdoor market in January 2005, moving the stalls indoors in a new multi-story building. Local authorities have vowed to crack down on counterfeit brand goods in the market.
Asked if the previous reputation of selling fake brand-name products would have a negative influence on its Taipei plans, Zhang said, "It will not bring about any bad effect.
"Taipei's Xiushui Market will mainly sell local products and will be subject to local laws and regulations," he said.
Professor Hong Tao, of the Beijing Technology and Business University, told the Beijing Daily that the company should incorporate some "Beijing aspects" in the Taipei outlet to distinguish it from local competitors.
(Xinhua News Agency January 12, 2007)