China Glass 2014: Positive signs

With 815 exhibitors coming from 27 countries to take part in the fair, previous years’ numbers (850 in Shanghai in 2012 and 860 in Beijing in 2013) could not be met again.  

Also less visitors than hoped for had found their way to Shanghai New International Expo Centre, however, their quality and internationality as well as the visual appearance of the fair in general were convincing. Moreover there were some positive signs also with regard to projects in the float glass sector.

During the first three days of the fair, the organizers counted more than 20,000 visitors, nearly 18,000 of them came from China and 2,647 from more than 70 different countries. The number of 30,000 visitors, envisaged by the Chinese Ceramic Society, the organizer of the fair, unfortunately could still not be reached on the 4^th and last day either. Most visitors came to the fair on its first day.

Due to a currently rather low willingness to invest in projects in the float glass field that can be noticed worldwide, expectations for the fair were somewhat subdued. However, most of the 55 German exhibitors were very content with its outcome. It was the quality of the visitors in particular that was convincing. Moreover there were a few demands for new float glass machinery in China, with the hollow and special glass sector remaining stable. With the high amount of surplus capacity and closures of many a plant these positive signs came as a surprise.

At the German common stand, 28 German companies presented their products on a surface comprising more than 600 m². The stand, sponsored by the German Federal Government, was centrally located near the entrance in hall E1. About 100 exhibitors from Germany and China came to the reception at the Embassy and enjoyed the opportunity for an intensive exchange with each other. VDMA again registered for a German common stand sponsored by the German Federal Government also for next year’s China Glass – to be held in Beijing from 20^th to 23^rd May 2015.

The Italian common stand and most non-Chinese exhibitors were located in hall E1 of this fair also. The Chinese exhibitors were mainly to be found in the additional halls E2 to E7 and most of them had top-class booths. The visual appearance of this fair in general as well as the infrastructure of the trade fair premises and of Shanghai are equally as good as with glasstec held in Düsseldorf/Germany – the industry’s leading fair.  With this, China Glass strengthens its position as second most important fair on glass machinery and technology.