(Yicai) Sept. 4 -- With the summer holidays over, the high season for Chinese exports has begun and many exporters are turning their attention to emerging markets, which are developing rapidly, while traditional markets remain important and still offer much opportunity.

“There are great opportunities in the Middle East this year,” Ye Yikai, chairman of Guangdong Zhonghui Green Building Mobile Housing Technology, which makes space capsule homes, told Yicai. Orders from the Middle East have surged 260 percent this year from last year, he said.

According to the International Trade Center's Export Potential Map, China's exports to major markets in the Middle East will likely reach USD178.6 billion by 2027.

Ye visited Saudi Arabia late last month to expand Zhonghui Green Building's presence in Middle Eastern markets and said that South America also presents growth opportunities.

Established markets remain important, however. China's trade with the European Union, the United States, South Korea, and Japan rose 2.2 percent to CNY8.49 trillion (USD1.19 trillion) in the seven months ended July 31 from a year earlier, accounting for 34 percent of the country’s external foreign trade.

Trade with countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Countries, Central Asia, Latin America, and Africa jumped 9.8 percent to CNY7.6 trillion, with their share of China’s external trade climbing 1 percentage point.

Europe's purchasing power has declined significantly in recent years, which has created opportunities for cost-effective Chinese products, noted Ma Tongwei, general manager of Shandong Ruitu Laser Technology, laser equipment maker.

One of Ruitu Laser’s European clients used to pay five times the price for locally produced goods that they now pay for made-in-China brands, Ma noted. There is a strong incentive to find high-quality Chinese suppliers so as to cuts costs and meet new procurement needs this year, he said.

Chao Kang, a director at Changzhou Lingyue Equipment Technology, told Yicai that the US has always been the auto and motorcycle parts supplier’s main market. Despite economic challenges, the company has seen continued demand growth in the US market, allowing it to keep expanding its market share, he pointed out.

Editor: Martin Kadiev