The 22nd Jinjiang Footwear International (Online) Exposition and the 5th Jinjiang Sports Industry International (Online) Exposition kicked off in Jinjiang, a county-level city in Quanzhou city, East China’s Fujian province on April 19, and the event finishes on April 22.

Organizers said that due to the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic, this is the first time the footwear expo has been held online.

The 22nd Jinjiang Footwear International Exposition kicks off online on April 19. [Photo/xinhuanet.com]

Working with Chinese e-commerce and tech giant Alibaba Group, the organizers set up exhibition areas for footwear products, sports goods, shoe manufacturing materials and machines, as well as areas for live Jinjiang broadcasts and for displays by international companies.

The footwear event has attracted more than 2,000 companies from Germany, Peru, Bangladesh, and Indonesia to participate, as well as well-known brands such as 361 Degrees, SHUA and Kelme.

The organizers said the expo has become a vital industrial base for footwear supplies in China and even the world. Jinjiang's textile, apparel, and footwear industry supply chains have all created a complete support group for companies.

Meanwhile, data showed that the output value of Jinjiang's sports manufacturing industry in 2019 topped 200 billion yuan ($28.2 billion) for the first time, reaching 215.28 billion yuan, an increase of 9.1 percent on the previous year.

On the April 19 launch day for the expo, 10 projects were signed, with a total planned investment of 13.46 billion yuan.

They involved the development of industrial parks, intelligent manufacturing of finished shoes, production of high-performance shoe materials and a live broadcast platform for the shoe and apparel industry.

The signing ceremony at the 22nd Jinjiang Footwear International (Online) Exposition. [Photo/xinhuanet.com]