As editor of Is Chinaplas growing too fast to go back to Beijing? That's what Stanley Chu, chairman of show organizer Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd. of Hong Kong suggested in a news conference this afternoon.
Traditionally, Chinaplas is held in Shanghai in even-numbered years, and it alternates between Guangzhou and Beijing in odd-numbered years. But Chu said Chinaplas has grown too big for Beijing's exhibition hall. This year's show is 102,000 square meters (up from 77,000 square meters in 2005).
"Chinaplas is growing too fast, and Beijing's exhibition hall is growing too slowly," Chu said. "We can't ask our exhibitors to cut their space in half" in order to go back to Beijing.
Officially, Adsale has not decided where to book the 2009 show. It's a little hard to believe that Beijing can quickly gear up for the summer Olympic games, but won't be able to accommodate Chinaplas.
Also, keep in mind that Adsale doesn't have a monopoly on the Shanghai location. Applas will be held from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2 this year in Shanghai, just a few months before the next Chinaplas. It's a much smaller show... but can this market sustain two big shows in the same city so close together?
I suppose if any market can, it would be Shanghai.
Here are a few more tidbits from Chu's news conference:
The Chinese [processing] companies are thirsting for overseas technology. They know that they can no longer rely on low-cost products.
And he spoke about his goal for the trade show:
The first step is to become the No. 2 [show] in the world. Now we are No. 3. So we are going after NPE.