Organizers of China’s premier hardware fair outline steady, sustainable event growth plans

Date：2013/3/20

Over 1,000 companies have already signed up for booth spaces at Asia’s largest hardware trade fair which featured 2,400 manufacturers and drew 46,368 visitors last year. Slated to take place from November 26-28 in Shanghai, the event, usually held from September 19-21 every year, was rescheduled to avoid the Mid Autumn’s Festival – a public holiday and a day of reunion widely celebrated in China. “The initial years of the China International Hardware Show enjoyed tremendous growth. It was a pleasant surprise for us the organizers and we currently have adopted the strategy to grow the show in a more steady and sustainable manner based on the needs of the markets abroad and in China,” said David Feng, managing director of co-organizer Koelnmesse in China. A balanced development between export-oriented and focus on domestic demand is crucial, he added. A more recent trend noted about the event is the establishment of specialty zones and sub-shows to spotlight specific industry sectors. Two such sub-shows are the China International Building Hardware Show and the China International Locks & Security Show which hosted 700 and 300 exhibitors respectively in 2012. Vice chairman of industry association and co-organizer, the China National Hardware Association, Shi Zenglan expressed: “In recent years, we have been striving towards finer product definition with the lock, fastener, wire nail, door and window and the furniture hardware segments seeing rapid growth in both scale and transacted volume.” She further noted that the abrasives zone has doubled to feature 350 manufacturers last year among other well received zones including work safety and protective products and revealed that more specialty zones are to be expected. Following the economic slowdown in Europe, show organizers have extended promotional efforts to other emerging markets such as the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa, South America, Russia and India. The results have been heartening with visitors from Turkey, the Emirates and India increasing by 36 per cent, 74 per cent and 47.7 percent respectively in 2012. With the world’s largest event of its kind, the German-based International Hardware Fair being a biannual event taking place again only in 2014, all eyes will be on the China International Hardware Show this year.

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About China International Hardware Show China International Hardware Show (CIHS) in Shanghai is Asia`s largest trade fair for the entire hardware and DIY sectors offering specialist traders and buyers a comprehensive category of products and services ranging from Tools, DIY and Building Hardware to Security, Locks and Fittings. Increasingly, European and American exhibitors are using this show as their gateway to markets in Asia. www.hardwareshow-china.com About the Organizers Koelnmesse As a world-renowned trade fair organizer, Koelnmesse has an excellent track record for organizing some of the world’s most successful trade events, such as the accomplished International Hardware Fair and spoga+gafa in Cologne, Germany. With over 80 years’ experience in organizing large-scale commercial events connecting buyers and sellers, Koelnmesse brings forth an unrivaled skill-set and expertise needed to develop the China International Hardware Show into one of the premier international trade shows in the world. www.koelnmesse.com China National Hardware Association With almost 3,000 members, China National Hardware Association is made up of China’s key hardware enterprises and professional associations. Its mission is to foster collaboration and communication between the government and enterprises, so as to build up China’s hardware industry. www.chinahardware.org.cn