Subway, Athlete's Foot and Super 8 Among Companies to Exhibit at 10th Annual Franchising China Conference & Exhibition

Subway, Athlete's Foot and Super 8 Among Companies to Exhibit at 10th Annual Franchising China Conference & Exhibition

November 01, 2007

20,000 China Entrepreneurs Expected to Visit Events in
Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing


    HONG KONG, Nov. 1 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Global
Sources' (Nasdaq: GSOL) 10th Annual Franchising China
Conference & Exhibition ( http://www.franchisechina.com
) is scheduled to run in three cities across China with
nearly 100 international and local franchisors and 20,000
entrepreneurs expected to participate. 

    (Logo: http://www.xprn.com/xprn/sa/200708071747.jpg )

    Franchising China is scheduled to be held in: 

    -- Shanghai -- Nov. 8-9 at Shanghai Mart 
    -- Guangzhou -- Nov. 12-13 at Jin Han Exhibition
Center
    -- Beijing -- Nov. 15-16 at China World Trade Center

    Among the international brands set to exhibit are
Subway, Gloria Jean's Coffee, Bob Jane T-Marts, Athlete's
Foot, Super 8, Holiday Inn Express, Office 1 and Meyer
Cookware. Successful domestic China franchisors are also
scheduled to participate, including Home Inn, JinJiang Inn,
Iceason (Bright Enterprise), ILSA Laundry, Dio Coffee and
Tayohya. 

    Exhibitors represent a range of product categories --
including retail, education, hotels, laundry services, food
& beverage, beauty & health, automotive, commercial
services and furniture/home products. 

    Global Sources' Chief Operating Officer, Craig Pepples,
said: "China's franchising industry has experienced
amazing growth over the past two decades and now boasts
over 2,600 franchises with over 200,000 retail outlets.  In
2006 the industry grew by 16 percent, far outpacing growth
in other markets around the world. 

    "China's franchise market represents a huge
opportunity for entrepreneurs and Franchising China is the
ideal event to explore both international and local
franchises under the same roof."
    
    Free Seminars to Educate Visitors About Franchising

    Free seminars and lectures aim to give attendees an
overview of franchising as well as tips to operate
franchises in specific industries. 

    The keynote address on the first day of each show is
scheduled to be given by Michael M. Isakson, Chairman of
International Franchise Association, who will speak about
how to evaluate a franchise before investing. 

    On the second day of each event, executives from Dio
Coffee and JinJiang Inn are scheduled to discuss business
opportunities created by the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

    Visitors can also attend Franchise Opportunity Seminars
given by individual franchisors. Company representatives
will introduce requirements for becoming a franchisee along
with the benefits of their franchise systems. Seminars will
be conducted by 14 different franchisors at various times
throughout the day. Schedules are available at the event or
on the Franchising China website (
http://www.franchisechina.com ). Seating at the seminars is
limited.

    More information and online pre-registration for the
10th Annual Franchising China Conference & Exhibition
is available at http://www.franchisechina.com .

    About Franchising China

    Organized by Global Sources (Nasdaq: GSOL) and
sponsored by Chief Executive China (
http://www.ceconline.com ), Franchising China has been a
pioneer in introducing international franchise exhibitions
to China since 1998. Today, it's the region's premier
multinational franchise event and a prime location for
famous brands seeking business partners.  As a result, the
event has earned the repeated support of international
associations such as the International Franchise
Association (IFA), the Franchising and Licensing
Association of Singapore (FLA) and the Malaysia External
Trade Development Corporation (Matrade). Furthermore, the
Shanghai show has received the US Department of Commerce's
trade fair certification.

    Franchising China exhibitors come from the US,
Australia, Italy, Switzerland, Singapore, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Hong Kong and other countries, representing
industries such as retail, food, education, training,
business services and more.  Past exhibitors include
Subway, Athlete's Foot and other well-known brands. More
than 20,000 visitors attended the 2006 Franchising China
exhibition -- 80% of whom were senior managers. 

    About Global Sources 

    Global Sources is a leading business-to-business (B2B)
media company and a primary facilitator of two-way trade
with Greater China.  The core business is facilitating
trade from Greater China to the world, using a wide range
of English-language media.  The other key business segment
facilitates trade from the world to Greater China using
Chinese-language media. 

    The company provides sourcing information to volume
buyers and integrated marketing services to suppliers.  It
helps a community of over 647,000 active buyers source more
profitably from complex overseas supply markets.  With the
goal of providing the most effective ways possible to
advertise, market and sell, Global Sources enables
suppliers to sell to hard-to-reach buyers in over 230
countries.

    The company offers the most extensive range of media
and export marketing services in the industries it serves. 
It delivers information on 2 million products and more than
160,000 suppliers annually through 14 online marketplaces,
13 monthly magazines, over 100 sourcing research reports
and nine specialized trade shows which run 22 times a year
across seven cities. 

    Suppliers receive more than 23 million sales leads
annually from buyers through Global Sources Online (
http://www.globalsources.com ) alone.

    Global Sources has been facilitating global trade for
36 years.  In mainland China it has over 2,000 team members
in 44 locations, and a community of over 1 million
registered online users and magazine readers for 
Chinese-language media.

    Safe Harbor Statement

    This news release contains forward-looking statements
within the meaning of Section 27-A of the Securities Act of
1933, as amended and Section 21-E of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934, as amended.  The company's actual results could
differ materially from those set forth in the
forward-looking statements as a result of the risks
associated with the company's business, changes in general
economic conditions, and changes in the assumptions used in
making such forward-looking statements. 




    For more information, please contact:

    Global Sources Press Contact in Asia:
     Camellia So
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

    Global Sources Investor Contact in Asia:
     Eddie Heng
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

    Global Sources Press Contact in U.S.:
     James W.W. Strachan 
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail] 

    Global Sources Investor Contact in U.S.:
     Moriah Shilton & Christiane Pelz
     Lippert/Heilshorn & Associates, Inc.
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]