The next Chinaplas trade show will take place Aug. 3-6 in Shanghai, show organizer Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd. announced Feb. 19.
The show originally was scheduled for April 21-24, but it was delayed because of the coronavirus epidemic. The venue for the fair has not changed; it will be at the NECC in Shanghai.
Adsale General Manager Ada Leung said that companies "have already resumed work and manufacturing" after the coronavirus scare.
Leung also noted the role that plastics have taken during the epidemic, saying that the materials are used in medical protective clothes, medical masks, goggles, gloves, medical equipment, pharmaceutical packaging and disinfection supplies.
The novel coronavirus first appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 and began to spread in January. Hong Kong-based Adsale first announced on Feb. 5 that the 2020 show would be delayed.
This is not the first time that Chinaplas has been delayed as a result of a health scare. During the SARS outbreak in 2003, Chinaplas was postponed from June until December.
Chinaplas will likely be the largest plastics industry exhibition this year. Last year's Chinaplas, held in Guangzhou, reported an estimated attendance of 163,000. The last time the show was in Shanghai, in 2018, it drew an estimated 180,000 attendees.
Chinaplas is held annually and typically has alternated between Shanghai and Guangzhou. The 2021 show, however, will be held April 13-16 in Shenzhen. Adsale has said that the Guangzhou venue has become too small for Chinaplas.