HONG KONG, April 27, 2006 – Global Sources' (NASDAQ: GSOL) China Sourcing Fair: Gifts & Home Products and Koelnmesse's International Hardware Fair/Practical World Hong Kong closed on April 25, offering over 3,700 booths to a record 30,743 buyers. These were the largest trade shows held to date at Hong Kong's new AsiaWorld-Expo.

The events, held April 22-25, included over 1,200 exhibitors from mainland China, plus another 1,200 from Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Chairman and CEO of Global Sources, Merle A. Hinrichs, said: "The China Sourcing Fair: Gifts & Home Products and the previous week's Electronics & Components and Fashion Accessories fairs were hugely successful. We are absolutely delighted with the results."

October show will be sold out; may need to use temporary structures

"I'm pleased to announce that our October 2006 Gifts & Home Products show will be totally sold out, with more than 4,000 booths filling all 10 halls of AsiaWorld-Expo and offering the world's volume importers an even wider selection of suppliers and products.

"We are concerned about running out of space and urge the owners of AsiaWorld-Expo to quickly proceed with construction of the Phase 2 venue in order to satisfy the huge exhibitor demand and to fully realize Hong Kong’s position as 'Asia's Trade Show Capital.' In the meantime, we may consider using temporary structures to supplement the 70,000-square-meter venue."

Hinrichs added that the China Sourcing Fair: Electronics & Components will also expand in October, growing from April's 1,700 booths to over 2,000 booths. "And we have already opened up a second hall for our Fashion Accessories show. As well as expanding the selection of fashion accessory products, we will be adding new categories: underwear, swimwear and sleepwear."

World's largest buyers attend

Attendance at the China Sourcing Fair: Gifts & Home Products was 30,743; Electronics & Components, 26,104; and Fashion Accessories, 11,306. Leading buyers came from 166 countries and territories, which Hinrichs noted, "reflects our deep knowledge of and involvement in international trade and 35 years of experience in serving buyers through our trade journals, websites, research reports and trade shows."

Buyers at the China Sourcing Fairs included representatives of Aeon, Auchan, Best Buy, Boots, Black & Decker, Brookstone, Canadian Tire, Carrefour, Casino, Circuit City, Coles Myer, Daimaru, Kenwood, Decathlon, Disney, El Cortes Ingles, Giorgio Armani, Halfords, H&M, IKEA, KarstadtQuelle, Kesa Electricals, Kingfisher, Li & Fung, Markant, Marks & Spenser, Mothercare, McDonald's, Metro, Monster Cable, NEC, Nike, Philips, QVC, RadioShack, Sainsbury's, Samsung, Sears, Staples, Tesco, Testrite, ThreeSixty Sourcing, Tommy Hilfiger and Woolworths.

A number of Agentrics customers participated

Agentrics, a company serving 50 global retailers totaling over US$1 trillion in annual sales, participated in the Fairs, and many of its customers were also represented, such as Carrefour, the second-largest retailer in the world; Sears, the third-largest retailer in the United States; Metro, Germany's largest retailer; and many others, including: Auchan, Casino, Coles Myer, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury's and Tesco.

Agentrics' Executive Chairman, Christopher Sellers, said: "This venue is spectacular, and the show is very well organized. The number and quality of the exhibitors offers buyers from Agentrics customers many new sourcing opportunities – with great convenience in Hong Kong."

Global Sources is Agentrics' exclusive sourcing alliance partner in Asia. It provides Agentrics buyer members private sourcing conferences at the Fairs, as well as special access to VIP lounges and priority registration.

Buyers dub AsiaWorld-Expo the "Buyer Friendly Venue"

"We were especially gratified that international and local buyers found AsiaWorld-Expo to be so convenient. Many buyers came straight off international flights, taking the one-minute ride on the Airport Express to the station right inside the venue. I heard several people call it the 'Buyer friendly venue' due to the convenient location and the fact that all exhibition space is on the ground level," said Hinrichs.

Chief Executive Officer of AsiaWorld-Expo Management Limited, Nicolas Borit, added: "This was our first full-house event with all 10 halls of the venue occupied. Even with the huge number of buyers and exhibitors, logistics and transportation worked extremely well."

New China Sourcing Fair: Gifts & Home Products launched in Dubai

At a party held at AsiaWorld-Expo on April 23 to celebrate Global Sources' 35th anniversary, Hinrichs also announced that the China Sourcing Fair: Gifts & Home Products will expand to Dubai. The first annual event there will be held June 11-13, 2007.

The China Sourcing Fairs (http://www.chinasourcingfair.com) are an important part of Global Sources' sourcing and product information services, which include Global Sources trade magazines, Global Sources Online (http://www.globalsources.com) and Global Sources Direct (http://www.globalsourcesdirect.com). Further information about Global Sources is available at http://www.corporate.globalsources.com .