One month ago and CHINAPLAS 2016 was preparing to open its doors. Now the dust has settled, event organiser Adsale has some impressive data to share confirming the landmark 30th anniversary event was a huge success.
Chinaplas 2016
The largest plastics and rubber event in Asia and the world's biggest, second only to K Show in Düsseldorf, took place from April 25th-28th 2016 in Shanghai, China, and welcomed an astonishing 148,575 over the course of the four-day event. This is a new record for the show, whose records date back to 1983, and left numbers for the last two editions in the shade, jumping by 13.96 per cent from 2014's Shanghai-hosted event and 15.84 per cent on CHINAPLAS 2015, which took place in Guangzhou. Of the 148,575 visitors attending this year's show, 39,454 were from overseas, representing 25.55 per cent of delegates. Representatives from over 160 countries attended with the largest proportion of foreign visitors coming from Korea, India, Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Iran, Thailand and Malaysia.
Chinaplas 2016
This jump in numbers contradicted predictions that the 'slowdown' atmosphere concerning the Chinese economy would present a challenge for CHINAPLAS 2016, but the event remained as active and dynamic a business environment as organisers had hoped it would be.
Stanley CHU, Chairman of Adsale Exhibition Services, commented: “We were very happy to witness the 30th CHINAPLAS making historical breakthroughs in terms of exhibition area and quantity of exhibitors and visitors.
"At CHINAPLAS, exhibitors and visitors engaged themselves in business discussions and negotiations, whereas all concurrent events won full-house audience. Making its debut as a platform only for introducing and importing overseas machinery and materials to China, CHINAPLAS has grown into an excellent must-visit show for technology sourcing and exchange among industry professionals and buyers from all over the world. Right timing, geographical advantage and strong support from partners have contributed to the success of CHINAPLAS."
The evolving show floor
In addition to its ballooning visitor numbers, CHINAPLAS 2016 experienced a growth spurt on the show floor.
The event covered an exhibition area of more than 240,000 m sq with 3,335 exhibitors from 39 countries and regions participating, indeed 35 per cent of exhibitors were from overseas and 14 per cent were making their CHINAPLAS debut.
The show's organisers have received a glut of positive feedback from exhibitors - both old and new.
Ian Toh, Commercial Director, Asia Pacific, NatureWorks, said: "This is the 30th CHINAPLAS and we see that the show grows and improves over time in terms of the number and quality of visitors, the management and the efforts of the organiser to promote a greener plastic industry. We are very pleased with the business leads and opportunities being developed. CHINAPLAS is really a great platform to meet existing and potential customers."
Head of Tomra Sorting Recycling China Kelly Zie added: "With the introduction of the Recycling Technology Zone, customers with specific recycling needs were able to locate us, and existing customers could find us with ease."
Chinaplas
“Recycling Technology Zone” makes its debut at CHINAPLAS.
Innovation, innovation, innovation
Ada Leung, General Manager of Adsale, is the mastermind behind the new innovative elements brought to CHINAPLAS year on year to ensure return visitors and exhibitors are satisfied the show knows how to move with the times and that newcomers are pleasantly surprised and inspired by the very best of the Chinese marketplace.
The feedback from both exhibitors and visitors in terms of the new features at CHINAPLAS 2016 has been positive. Exhibitors reported that they were generally satisfied with visitor quality and their participation results. Most agreed that CHINAPLAS 2016 exceeded expectations thanks to the increased internationality of the show and the numerous new product launches.
Leung noted: "At CHINAPLAS 2016, there were more than 40 kinds of ground-breaking technologies which were newly launched either in the world or Asia, and we were very happy to see that happen. It implied that exhibitors recognised CHINAPLAS as an important platform for the release of new technology.
"CHINAPLAS is not only a platform for sourcing and technology know-how exchange, but also a value-added, professional and technology-oriented trade fair. The development trend of CHINAPLAS is well-matched with the technology upgrade and specific needs from downstream high-end buyers.”
Maturing market
As a marketplace, China is beginning to mature, with the re-industrialisation and Made in China 2025 government initiatives serving to transform a manufacturing industry in dire need of modernisation.
Alongside this overhaul, Adsale promoted the need for a 'greening' of the Chinese industry as well as looking at design and new technologies to improve both efficiency and aesthetics.
"To cope with the demand of enterprises and challenges they will face, CHINAPLAS 2016 set ‘Greenovation for a Smart Future' as the show's theme, and focused on the topics of innovation, automation and green technology," said Leung. "In order to cater for the market trends and buyers' needs, and bring forward-looking and innovative inspiration to the industry, many concurrent events such as ‘Design x Innovation', ‘Industry 4.0 Conference' and ‘The 2nd Medical Plastics Conference' [were] held during the show. CHINAPLAS 2016 [was] favourably appraised by visitors from China and overseas, and it reflects our buyer-oriented strategy is on the right track.”
Some more positive words on CHINAPLAS 2016
Gao Rong Biao, General Manager, Zhejiang DEMARK Machinery, said: "We met plenty of professional visitors who mainly came from mainland China, South America and the Middle East. They were interested in injection blowing machines, plastic containers, blow molds, etc. Not only did we meet a great number of potential buyers, but also were we able to enhance our company's brand image in CHINAPLAS.”
Xiaosheng Wu, Engineering Manager, Memtech International, Nantong Memtech Technology, said: "I have visited CHINAPLAS at least 10 times and I was very happy to see the integrated solutions in the Automation Technology Zone. The production of automotive interior demonstrated by Demag in hall E7 impressed me very much. The fibres embedded within the mould, meanwhile for infrared preheating, injection moulding and after treatment processes were displayed together this year while in the past, these were presented separately. The integration brought me some new ideas, and I believe it would become the future trend. By visiting CHINAPLAS, you can benefit more than you see."
Jianjun Chen, R&D Manager of Shanghai POVOS Enterprise, added: "It broadened my knowledge in the field of materials. I found some high strength and high temperature resistant materials, PBS materials, food grade materials, etc., which are widely applied in a lot of components and parts. These technologies are useful to our product development."
Jian Huang, Chief Engineer, Yonggao, said: "Extrusion equipment with high capacity will be the development direction in the future. Currently, with the furtherance of lead free stabiliser, exhibitors develop and present the latest and most advanced products steadily. CHINAPLAS is able to help us capture the necessary improvement and development direction of raw materials, equipment and automation."
Xuecheng Zhang, Production Director, Hunan Jingxin Technology, stated: "We have not only seen many efficient environment-friendly film blowing machines, bag machines, solvent-less laminator, but also reserved equipment on-site. We come to visit CHINAPLAS every year and can always discover some new technologies and innovations to inspire us."
Jibo Gan, Vice Chief Engineer, Shanghai Fuyao Bus Glass Co., Ltd., said, “In CHINAPLAS I got to know a lot of injection corollary equipment and they did broaden my horizon. I hope we can apply them to our practical operation, and improve efficiency, save labour cost and optimise quality with automation."