Chinese housewares on show in Chichago, eying expansion on U.S. market

Chinese businesswoman Jessie Cao is on her first trip to the United States, and to Chicago.

As an attendee at the ongoing International Housewares Association Show in Chicago, Cao is just one of Chinese business people hoping to expand in the U.S.

"It's a very famous fair...I came to see if I could get more business," she said.

Her company sells everything from measuring cups to ice creams scoops and other utensils, but her favorite product is a cup you can squeeze to make flavored ice.

She and more than 500 other Chinese manufacturers are vying for the U.S. market, and the housewares show is the place where she chose to set her stand.

The show has been running since 1927 in one way or another, and show spokeswoman Lisa Casey Weiss said that this year has 60,000 attendees, with more than 2,000 exhibitors from 34 countries.

Weiss told Xinhua that there are 20 km of show floor aisle to walk.

The Chinese companies are kept in sectioned-off part of the show floor, offering buyers convenient access to what manufacturers say is high quality good for low prices.

Despite most Chinese companies' separation from the main show floor, the section has attracted large numbers of buyers. More than 20,000 buyers from over 100 countries around the world are at the show, and China's houseware manufacturers are all working to get their business.

Show veteran Helen Chen has come to the show for more than 30 years, and she is working to build a line of products that will let Americans get involved in Chinese cooking.

Chen has created a cookbook and a line of products to accompany it. The book is called Easy Chinese Stir-Fries, and she encourages people to use her stir fry sauce bottle.

According to Chen, the bottle is special because several stir fry recipes are printed on the bottle. Chefs simply put fill up the liquid to the correct line, then switch liquids.

"It's designed to always taste different, and always taste good," she said.

The show runs from March 7 to March 10, and features products for the kitchen and home, including optimizing space, house cleaning, and health care items.