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.