Pro-environment designs and materials have become hot choice of houseware producers and buyers, found an industry survey conducted at the Hong Kong Houseware Fair 2006, which closed on Monday.

Over two-thirds of buyers interviewed at the four-day event said environmental protection had become a key concern in purchasing.

A total of 74 percent of the buyers said they would purchase environment-friendly household products over the next three years. The portion is 10 percentage points higher than that of last year.

While 77 percent interviewed buyers said they were concerned about environmental protection and supported buying green products, 83 percent of exhibitors also sounded their concern and support for green products.

On average, 38 percent of the houseware items sold at the Hong Kong fair, the largest in Asia and the third largest in the world, were green products.

However, nearly 40 percent of the interviewed buyers said they still found it difficult to buy green products in the Asia Pacific region.

According to interviewed buyers, green products refer to those that use environment-friendly packaging, recycled materials, lead- free and halogen-free materials and are efficient in energy consumption.

The survey was commissioned by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council over 415 exhibitors and 706 buyers attending the exhibition.

The annual Hong Kong Houseware Fair is the largest of its kind in Asia, attracting 2,100 exhibitors from 37 countries and 31,669 buyers to this year's event.

Source: Xinhua