Yang Hong-yeol (right), head of the project division at Hyungji Innovation and Creative's Yezac brand, meets with Lee Chang-gyu, secretary-general of the Korea-China Business Entry Support Association, and Park Ji-min, general manager of Shanghai Jeonghan Trading, during a visit to Shanghai on Monday to finalize the pop-up store agreement. [Hyungji Innovation and Creative]
Yang Hong-yeol (right), head of the project division at Hyungji Innovation and Creative's Yezac brand, meets with Lee Chang-gyu, secretary-general of the Korea-China Business Entry Support Association, and Park Ji-min, general manager of Shanghai Jeonghan Trading, during a visit to Shanghai on Monday to finalize the pop-up store agreement. [Hyungji Innovation and Creative]

Hyungji Innovation and Creative announced Wednesday that its premium shirt brand Yezac is entering the Chinese market in partnership with the Korea-China Business Entry Support Association.

The company has confirmed it will operate a pop-up store on Hongquan Road in Shanghai's Minhang district, targeting the Mid-Autumn Festival — one of China's four major holidays. The store will run from Sept. 1 through the end of September, aiming to capture holiday gift demand. Consumer response and purchasing behavior data gathered during the pop-up will feed into the company's broader China expansion strategy.

The Korea-China Business Entry Support Association is a private economic platform that facilitates exchange and business cooperation between Korean and Chinese companies. Hyungji Innovation and Creative and the association have held working-level discussions on the China entry plan across multiple meetings in both countries. The pop-up was finalized at their third meeting, held in Shanghai.

Hongquan Road is a Koreatown in Shanghai's Hongqiao lifestyle district in Minhang. The area draws Korean expatriates, Chinese middle-class consumers and younger shoppers with a strong interest in K-lifestyle trends. With Korean dining, fashion and beauty brands concentrated there, it is regarded as a testing ground for companies seeking to enter the Chinese market.

The pop-up will showcase Yezac's core product lineup, ranging from business shirts to casual shirts. The brand plans to analyze local consumers' product preferences, price sensitivity and design responses, feeding the findings into product planning and marketing strategy. Yezac has sold a cumulative 8.5 million shirts in South Korea.

Hyungji Innovation and Creative plans to expand its pop-up presence to other major locations in China by leveraging the association's local network. The company will also ramp up content marketing and live commerce on major Chinese digital platforms including WeChat, Xiaohongshu and Douyin. It is also pursuing listings on online platforms such as Tmall, JD.com and WeChat Mini Programs.

"The Hongquan Road pop-up is the starting point for Yezac's full-scale entry into China," a company official said. "We will verify the brand's competitiveness, conduct market analysis, and expand our online and offline retail channels from there."


andy@heraldcorp.com