Intertextile Shanghai witnesses 60% rise in visitors

26 Mar '14

4 min read

Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – Spring Edition 2014 concluded this month with a huge increase in the number of overseas and Chinese buyers attending. Over 40,000 visitors passed through the doors from 3 to 5 March 2014, a 60% increase compared to the 2013 edition which was held in Beijing and a new record for the spring fair.

When broken down, it comprised a 105% increase in terms of overseas visitors and a 52% increase in domestic visitors from last year. Visitors came from 91 countries & regions and the top five overseas buyer countries & regions, excluding Mainland China, were Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, India and the US.

On the exhibitor side, 1,469 companies from 23 countries & regions took part, with a 12% increase in international exhibitor participation recorded. Exhibitors from Italy, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong made up the top five countries & regions, excluding Mainland China. In total the fair covered 50,000 sqm and three halls of the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center.

With new records set, fair co-organiser Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd was understandably pleased with the result. “The buy-in for the move to Shanghai from exhibitors and buyers, both from overseas and within China, has exceeded our expectations. With these results, this city has proven itself as the ideal location for a textile trade fair of this nature, and we will look to build on these results next year with an enlarged fair,” commented Wendy Wen, Senior General Manager, Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd.

Shanghai proves its merit as a new location

Exhibitors were generally in agreement as well that the move to Shanghai was good for business. “We definitely feel Shanghai is better,” commented Crystal Ku, Sales Manager, Casa Fashion Textile, Hong Kong. “It is close to Guangdong so the factories from there still attend. Trading companies and end-buyers also tend to have offices in Shanghai so it’s more convenient for them too.”

Austrian firm Lenzing Fibers also confirmed this sentiment. “There are more European and American textile brands with offices in Shanghai,” said Maggie Shen, Marketing Manager. “The visitor flow has been good and the quality of buyers is better here as well.”

Overseas buyers were also pleased with the added convenience from the number of manufacturing plants located close to Shanghai. “Shanghai is definitely a much better location as there are more textile factories in surrounding areas,” said Alberto Barisak, Managing Director, Texpro, Italy.

More Messe Frankfurt GmbH News... More Textiles News - China...