Interview with Mr Stanley Chu

Adsale was set up to link with China’s economic boom. When we started in 1978, there were just five young people working in Wan Chai with a 30sqm office. We had no connections, no money – so what could we do? We then see a chance as China had started opening its doors, it was such a big market and people were so scared of it during the Cultural Revolution, so we thought, as a small company, we would do some trade promotion.

The company began selling advertising, representing Financial Times and Wall Street Journal to Chinese advertisers. Advertising sales is a great business for a start-up as you don’t need any capital! By the end of its first year, Adsale had already begun producing a trade magazine, TECHNOVA, helping people promote their technology and products to China. And in 1980 it began developing small trade shows. The whole business picked up very fast, because on the technology and equipment side, people need to see the products in operation, so we have grasped the huge opportunity under China’s reform and opening policy.

Riding on China's three decades of reform and opening-up, Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd, 30-year-old exhibition giant, has taken the lead in bridging China and the world. We are proud that Adsale was the first Hong Kong exhibition company to organize exhibitions in China and to explore the mainland market. Adsale boasts many number one and pioneering efforts in the industry, making its top position hard to surpass.

Adsale owns a series of Textile Events, namely ShanghaiTex, Yiwu H&G and QingdaoTex, to showcase the latest textile machinery and technology, to contribute to the growth and development of China’s textile industry.

ShanghaiTex, a biennial event inaugurated in 1984, is the most historical and professional exhibition of its kind in China with its unique national brand. It provides a distinguished trading and business platform for industry players to source the full range of textile machinery & technology, including spinning, weaving, knitting, hosiery, printing, dying & finishing, non-woven, techtextile, etc. ShanghaiTex reached 100,000sqm exhibition area in 2009.

Yiwu H&G is a specialized exhibition in hosiery, seamless-underwear, knitting and braiding machinery, parts and accessories. It's the first UFI approved event in China of its kind and it's proud to be awarded again as one of the Top Ten Zhejiang Province Exhibitions in 2009. The show is annually held and will come to its 11th edition in this year.

QingdaoTex is rooted in Shandong Province with influences spanning over Northern China. It was founded in 2000 and is an ideal platform for sourcing innovative textile machinery & technology. The show was divided into five theme zones, including Knitting Machinery Zone, Dye & Finishing Machinery Zone, Spinning Machinery Zone, Weaving Machinery & Label Making Machinery Zone, and Printing Machinery Zone.

Textile industry has suffered in the previous year due to global financial crisis, but with the support of China government in past year and the hints of worldwide economic recovery recently, we observe the industry is picking up gradually. According to the figures of China Customs, export of textile products and apparel reached USD70.21 billion in Jan-May 2010, increased by 19.3% comparing with the same period of last year. Among that, the export amount of textile products and apparel reached USD28.56 billion & USD41.65 billion respectively, representing a 29.7% & 13.1% growth respectively than the same period of last year.

Customers join the exhibition for its benefit and the business potential that could be captured at the show. Therefore, we endeavor to attract more buyers via extensive promotions in order to build an effective business platform for the customers. Clients are paying for the value gained! Of course, during economic downturn, we have worked and will work together with the exhibitors to provide more value-added services to them and make their participation more cost effective.

Under bad economy, exhibitors became more conservative and they cut the promotion budget or use the promotion expenses more carefully. On the other hand, consumers were spending less and demand on the clothing and apparel dropped. Facing the drop in orders, textile manufacturers did not spend on purchasing equipment and thus textile machinery makers, our exhibitors, suffered. Our business also got affected and we were facing lots of challenges.

However, our commitment to exhibitors and placing their interest on top give us clear direction. We did not cut our promotion budget and efforts; instead we even spent more on buyer promotion. We provided more values to the customers and give them higher returns on joining our shows. We let customers know that joining our shows is cost effective.

Some of our major clients told us that they even increased the promotion and R&D budget during economic downturn, as they understand the importance of marketing and innovation. They have to stand out from others during sluggish economy. The fact shows that only those corporations who upgraded themselves and invested in technology enhancement survived under the industry and economic transformation. And we are glad that we picked the right strategy during economy downturn and we have gained the support of many anchor clients.

Our success is attributable to China's rapid economic growth, our internationalized operation, professionalism in exhibition organization and the privilege of having an ideal team combining excellent personnel from Hong Kong and the mainland China. "Hongkongers” are good at communicating with foreign buyers and exhibitors, while mainland staff is close to the market and government authorities. We have taken great advantage of our personnel on both sides.

Exhibition is complex, so Adsale places high emphasis on systematic management and show organization. We received ISO 9002 certification in 2000, the first exhibition organizer not only in China but also in the Asia Pacific region to have the certification.

We are also very proud of the company's well-established show history and proven track record in international contents, professional services and quality management. To date, a total of seven exhibitions organized by Adsale or in cooperation with other organizers, including Chinaplas, Woodworking Fair, Printing South China, Sino-Pack, Dongguan China Shoes, EP China and Yiwu H&G, have been certified as an "UFI Approval Event", the top laurel of the world's exhibition sector. The company, which became a member of UFI in 2006, is currently one of the few in China to have so many shows receiving recognition from UFI.

Consistency in innovation is also a key to success for Adsale. We encourage innovation in every aspect of work, from our management to frontline staff. We are committed to customer satisfaction through our reliable, quality and competitive services, as well as our proven experience in enhancing the economic ties between China and the rest of the world.

Customers are more sophisticated and will pick the best show to join with higher expectation from organizers. Competition becomes fierce as there are several thousands exhibitions held in China every year. Cost of running exhibitions in China is increasing too, including the appreciation of RMB, increase in labor and rental cost, etc. Many industries have not been fully recovered also affected our business.

To tackle the challenges, our commitment to exhibitors and placing their interest on top would be our driving force. We are committed to customer satisfaction through our reliable, quality and competitive services, as well as our proven experience in enhancing the economic ties between China and the rest of the world.

The 11th China (Qingdao) International Textile Machinery Fair (QITMF) is a textile machinery show rooted in Shandong Province with influences spanning over Northern China. The coming show will be held on Sep 15 –17, 2010. It provides an ideal platform for sourcing innovative textile machinery & technology. The exhibitor recruitment is on track and we have started the visitor promotion too! Numerous big brands have confirmed to join and will bring their latest machinery to be launched and promoted at the show, including Chemtax, NanSing, etc.

Besides QITMF, our next textile machinery show would be Yiwu H&G 2010, which will be held on November 24 – 26, 2010 in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, China. It is a specialized exhibition in hosiery, seamless-underwear, knitting and braiding machinery, parts and accessories and is expecting to attract numerous manufacturers of knitting & hosiery industry from all over the world. Display zone on knitting end-product collections will be newly launched in the coming show, together with summit and seminar to address the hottest topics in the industry.

We are also expecting one of the largest and most historical textile machinery exhibitions in China, ShanghaiTex 2011, which will be held on June 14 – 17, 2011 in Shanghai. Full range of textile machinery & technology will be displayed, including spinning, weaving, knitting, hosiery, printing, dying & finishing, non-woven, techtextile, etc. ShanghaiTex 2011 is expected to reach 100,000sqm and gather more than 1,000 exhibitors.