(Yicai) Dec. 3 -- Xiamen Jihong Technology is teaming up with the United Arab Emirates’ trading company Venus Trading to build packaging factories that will wrap Chinese exports to the Middle Eastern and African markets and provide cross-border e-commerce services, the Chinese e-retailer and fast-moving consumer goods' packaging solution provider said.

Jihong and Venus Trading will invest USD136 million to set up a joint venture in the Dubai International Finance Center that will construct plants for paper packaging such as cigarette cartons and cardboard boxes in the UAE’s Ras Al Kaimah and Omen’s Salalah, the Xiamen-based company said yesterday. Construction is expected to take two years.

The JV, in which Jihong will own 45 percent equity and Venus Trading or its affiliate the rest, will also buy fast-moving consumer goods, food products, consumer electronics and other wares from China, repackage them and sell them to the Middle Eastern and African markets or locally.

The tie-up will leverage Jihong’s and Venus Trading’s respective client bases, technological know-hows and marketing channels to set up sales networks in international markets, especially in the Middle East and Africa, and expand the overseas footprint of Jihong’s cross-border business, it added.

Last year, Jihong earned 63.5 percent of its revenue from cross-border e-commerce and 31.3 percent from packaging services, according to the company’s 2023 annual report. The firm sells China-made products to individual customers on social media platforms, including TikTok, Line, YouTube and Instagram, as well as those owned by Meta and Google. Its packaging business mostly serves leading players in the food and beverage, daily use products and fast-moving consumer goods sectors.

Jihong’s share price [SHE:002803] closed down 4.3 percent at CNY15.75 (USD2.16) today, despite climbing over 2 percent in the morning. The stock has gained almost 70 percent in value since the market slumped to a new low in late September.

Editor: Kim Taylor