The Spring China Keqiao International Textile Expo proves to be a gala for domestic and foreign participants working in the sector.
SHANGHAI: China's heavily export-dependent textile industry has suffered as a direct result of the global financial downturn. One of the sector's leading trade shows, the China Keqiao International Textile Expo (CKITE), seems untouched by the decline however.The autumn Expo will run between October 25 to 28 and will take place at the China Textile City International Convention & Exhibition Center (CTCICEC). This year's autumn event was planned to feature 1,200 international standard booths but, due to unprecedented demand, the organizers have added more than 100 additional booths - taking the total to 1,306.
This autumn's Expo will have its usual high level contingent of overseas businesses. This will include 20 enterprises and design studios from Germany, Italy, South Korea and Japan, as well as designers from Italy, Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea.
This year's autumn event marks the Keqiao debut for both America's Cotton Incorporated and Italy's Milan Chamber of Commerce. It is believed that they will help inject a fresh and stylish impetus into this year's event.
Addressing the likely success of the 2009 event, an official of the China Textile City Construction and Management Committee of Shaoxing county, said: "I cannot say that we have not been affected by the downturn, but that negative influence is not all pervasive. Currently, many companies regard themselves as enduring an economic winter, however, there are clear signs of spring ahead."
During the exhibition, the world's longest-established textile industry association - the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) - will visit the expo as one of the highlights of the event's four-day agenda. The Federation will hold its annual convention in Shanghai between October 23 to 25 and expects that more than 300 industrial representatives, government officials, leading entrepreneurs and branding experts from more than 40 countries will attend the event.
On October 26, the ITMF will dispatch a group of delegates to the textile expo in Keqiao. The organizers of CKITE see this as a major opportunity to promote its international influence within the textile industry.
The Keqiao International Textile Expo was launched in 1999. The scale of the event and its international significance has grown steadily over the last 10 years. Since 2008, when the textile expo was first endorsed by the State Council as a State-level biannual event, its popularity and influence has grown exponentially. According to the official, it is now established as a crucial barometer of the Chinese textile industry.
The task of establishing the textile expo as an effective platform for the domestic textile industry, whilst attracting more overseas exhibitors and designers, is now the major challenge facing officials in Shaoxing county.
In order to consolidate its position, the expo committee has determined to undertake a number of initiatives. The first of which is to move the expo into a brand new venue - The China Textile City International Convention & Exhibition Center, home to a number of last year's leading trade fairs, including the auto expo, the creative industries expo and the spring textile expo. The new venue's comprehensive services and professional resources have assured that it has already won the endorsement of many exhibitors and delegates.
The textile expo has also introduced a membership scheme. This is intended to develop the loyalty and repeat business of the exhibition's growing number of adherents.
As part of this initiative, exhibitors identified as part of the Fortune 500 or with a sales turnover in excess of 10 million yuan will automatically be entitled to VIP gold status.
This privilege will also be extended to representatives of a number of leading global and domestic brands and will entitle VIP card holders to a number of distinct benefits, including matchmaking opportunities with designated business partners and privilege access in terms of stand construction.
The expo organizing committee has made strenuous efforts to maintain awareness of current tends and fashions. This has included incorporating elements such as award-winning textile designs events on the expo's agenda.
Additionally, a number of topically-themed events, such as professional lectures and online textile expos, will be staged to coincide with the overall event. The expo prides itself on having developed in many directions and on now being able to offer interested parties a multi-channel sampling experience.
Aside from the refinements mentioned above, the expo management team has also sought to offer a number of improvements for visitors to the 2009 event. These improvements include the introduction of a complementary shuttle bus, running directly from the expo venue to many of the surrounding hotels. The initiative has also seen the provision of a number of service centers, including facilities related to translation, finance, expo affairs and intellectual property protection.
According to the expo organization committee, exhibitors will also be able to access professional advice on how to set up and maximize the appeal of their stand. Explaining the policy, the official said: "Frankly speaking, we are aiming to be the very best in terms of our ability to stage hugely successful trade fairs."
Shaoxing county, the site of the expo, sees the event as an unrivalled platform to promote itself on both a national and global scale. As the nation's largest textile industry hub and with its close proximity to the markets of the China Textile City, Shaoxing garners 65 percent of its GDP from the textile business. Shaoxing produces a total of 15 billion meters of fabric each year, representing one third of China's national production. Illustrating the extent of the area's textile production, the official said: "If divided per capita, we produce three meters of textile for every single person across the world every year."
However, entrepreneurs within the area are not satisfied with being part of a low-level production base, but plan to scale the value chain and produce more high-end textiles.
One local manager said: "Our business has covered all the major textile-related businesses, including pure terephthalic acid (PTA), fiber, weaving, dyeing, as well as servicing the clothing and home textiles markets. Having been in the textile business for several years, we know that it is becoming increasingly competitive. At the end of the day, if you don't produce value-added products, you are out of the game."
