At the 5th China International Hardware and Electrical Forum in the city of Guiyang, Guizhou province, on Nov 2, the province announced its plans for a big data exchange center concerning mechanical and electrical products and their manufacturers.

The exchange center to be situated in Guiyang, will act as a site for mechanical and electrical product suppliers, retailers and manufacturers, and collect and analyze sales data for greater marketing analysis.

Chen Dakang, a vice-GM of the hardware and electrical shopping center where the exchange located, commented, "The market scale in the province is roughly 150 billion yuan ($23.67 billion) over a year and Guiyang accounts for nearly a third of the overall market value and it is growing."

Chen went on to explain that more than 1,000 out of about 1,700 merchants in the business, in Guiyang, do business in the shopping center in the traditional way but that he believes the new exchange center will combine a physical store with online retailing, to better channel dealers' resources and unify online retail sales and purchases.

Local authorities say that the work on the exchange center will be completed in the coming year and that the model is expected to be extended all across the province and even nation in the future.