Taobao livestreamer Lieer (left) sold 80,000 units of local bird's nest products in just five minutes during the Malaysia Week campaign in Shanghai, China. — Handout
A Chinese key opinion leader or influencer known as Lieer (烈儿宝贝) sold 80,000 units of locally-produced bird's nest product in just five minutes during a Taobao livestream on Sept 16.
Lieer, whose real name is Li Lie and who reportedly has over 2.5 million fans on her Taobao e-commerce platform, was helping to promote Malaysian products as part of a Malaysia Week 2019 campaign in Shanghai, China.
First launched last year as part of an eWTP (electronic world trade platform) initiative with Alibaba Group, the Malaysia Week campaign aims to widen the reach of Malaysian products to consumers in China using the massive Taobao livestreaming platform.
On various livestreaming sessions that took place between Sept 16 to 21, popular Chinese influencers like Huang Wei – known as Viya (薇娅) online – reportedly sold 3,000 units of teh tarik products in just three seconds, along with an estimated 30,000 units of biscuit wafers and 20,000 units of durian pie within a few minutes.
Another influencer Zhu Chenhui – who goes by the name Cherie (雪梨) online – achieved 5mil yuan (RM2.9mil) of sales of Malaysian bird's nest products during a single 10 minute livestreaming session.
Malaysian social media personality Jolin Tan was also given the opportunity to do a livestreaming session with a top Chinese influencer known as 粉红爷爷. Tan documented her experience at the Malaysia Week 2019 in Shanghai on her Instagram profile.
According to International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Darrell Leiking, Malaysia Week showcased more than 800 products – like instant coffee and durian-based food items – from over 100 local brands to not just the Chinese consumers but also to global markets.
“This is another milestone day for the close cooperation between Malaysia and China: One which will continue to bear mutual understanding and increasing benefits for our two countries,” he added.
Chairman and CEO of Ant Financial (board member and partner of Alibaba Group) Eric Jing noted that sharing an eWTP platform with Malaysia has led to significant progress in the e-commerce segment.
"Our deep cooperation with the Malaysian government has helped to create an enabling ecosystem that not only allows Malaysian merchants to grow their business right now, but also reap long term benefits that awaits them in future," he said in a press statement.
Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) COO Datuk Ng Wan Peng said the campaign has demonstrated the growing demand for local products and how the country itself is ready to take on the e-commerce platform on a global scale.
"We hope in the coming years, more local brands and products will be brought into the China market to cater to the growing demand of quality Malaysian products among Chinese consumers,” Ng said.
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