The first batch of Irish products to be exhibited at the upcoming China International Consumer Products Expo is ready for shipment from Ireland's southern port city of Cork to China's Hainan province, where the event will be held, sources told Xinhua on Thursday.

"Part of the exhibits have been loaded into a 40-foot container at a bonded warehouse nearby Cork Port this morning and it is ready to go soon," said Weng Jianglai, a member of Association of Chinese Enterprises in Ireland, which is authorized by the China International Consumer Products Expo, also known as Hainan Expo, to be responsible for exhibitors recruitment in Ireland.

Huang Xiaomian, founder of Jinky Huang, a brand that has focused on developing products made of new materials like cork, shared his understanding of sustainable fashion at the forum.

Huang explained that as a clothing designer, he had experimented with different materials for new collections before settling on cork.

"The cork originates in Portugal, and it takes 25 to 30 years to peel the bark of the trees.

Cork is 100 percent biodegradable, renewable, and can be recycled.

From traditional to fashionable pieces, anything can be made of cork, which is one of the reasons why I have chosen it as my preferred material," he said.

"To make one baseball, it takes seven steps, including making the cork center, wrapping it with leather and sewing the stitches by hand," said Shi.