ITMA ASIA + CITME 2008, the first combined show of the two established brands ITMA ASIA and CITME, closed its doors on 31 July. 1,368 exhibitors from 30 countries and regions participated in this show, taking up all 126,500 square metres of the 11 halls in the Shanghai New International Expo Centre.

The net exhibiting space exceeded 73,000 square metres, and the top five participating economies in terms of number of participants were China, Italy, Germany, China Taiwan and Japan. Regarding exhibiting space, China topped the list with over 33,000 square metres net, followed by Germany (over 10,000 square metres net), Italy (over 7,200 square metres net), and Switzerland (over 5,200 square metres net). The special partner of the show, Japan, took over 3,300 square metres net.

The 5-day show hosted more than 80,000 visitors, a 150% increase from the previous ITMA ASIA event held in Singapore in 2005. Of these visitors, over 20% were international buyers from 96 countries and regions. South and Southeast Asian countries were the principal visitor sources, with India in the number one position, followed by Japan, Korea, Thailand, Iran, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Vietnam, and Bangladesh.

According to the organizers, although there were some organisational challenges in the run up to the combined show, most exhibitors and visitors deemed the event a great success.

Mr. Du Yuzhou, Chairman of the China National Textile and Apparel Council, spoke highly of the first combined show: “The success of ITMA ASIA + CITME 2008 is a milestone for China International Textile Machinery Exhibition as it has taken a big step forward and followed strict international operating standards.”

Mr. Edward Roberts, President of CEMATEX, stated “The success of the first-ever combined show demonstrates that we are moving in the right direction to meet the needs of the textile manufacturing community. Together with CTMA, our objective is to offer our exhibitors and their customers a cost-effective exhibition of the highest quality. It is more beneficial to have one significant platform, as opposed to a series of fragmented textile machinery showcases that put a strain on financial and human resources. Our intention has been clearly stated in our show promotion: Two Established Showcases, One Leading-edge Platform, Infinite Business Opportunities.”

Mr. Gao Yong, Vice President of China National Textile and Apparel Council and President of China Textile Machinery Association, commented “The global textile industry is in a critical transitional period from traditional technologies to high-tech civilisation. The massive display of technology and equipment at the exhibition played a very important role in the promotion of the Asian and global textile industry.”

Mr. Tetsuro Toyoda, Chairman of Japan Textile Machinery Association and President of Toyota Industries Corporation, was happy to see visitors crowding into the booths. “It is good to see so many visitors at the show, especially when you realise that all these people have to pay for their tickets for the first time at such a show in China. This demonstrates the joint strength of the two brands and the enthusiasm of the customers at such a difficult economic period. This is really encouraging.”

Mr. Heinrich Truetzschler, Managing Partner of Truetzschler GmbH & Co. KG, reported “The situation of the global textile industry has not been good starting in 2008 as development has slowed down. But the exhibition is a successful one. We are quite satisfied with the combined show. Compared to the previous CITMEs held in Beijing, the combined show is larger in exhibiting space and better in booth allocation. It is much more international. "

Mr. Hu Ke, Vice President of China Hentian Group Co., Ltd. was also satisfied with the visitors. He stated :“The quantity of visitors might be a bit less than that of the previous CITMEs held in Beijing, but the quality of visitors is much better as every one of them is our end-user or potential customer. We are all aware that the present market situation is not so good, but the exhibition exceeds our expectations. The combined show is a very successful one.”

Mr. Li Peizhong, President of Pacific Mechatronic (Group) Co. Ltd., shares the same opinion about the visitors’ quality. “There are many more overseas visitors at this combined exhibition. We have received a lot of trade visitors from Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, India and Iran. Our business at the exhibition is very good, exceeding our expectations.”

Intellectual Property Rights

Strict measures were taken to protect exhibitors’ intellectual property rights. The organiser set up an IPR Office in the exhibition halls to help exhibitors against IPR infringement.

In total 26 complaints were received and handled during the five days of the show. Of these, 12 were complaints by Chinese companies against Chinese companies, 7 were complaints by Italian companies against Chinese companies, 5 were complaints by Swiss companies against Chinese companies, 1 was a complaint by an Italian company against a Turkish company and 1 was a complaint by a Chinese company against a Swiss company. The IPR office investigated each case thoroughly and where patent infringements were upheld, the relevant products were removed immediately from the show.

In addition, two companies who infringed the show’s regulations by exhibiting products which were not contained in the Index of Products were cautioned and will be banned from exhibiting at all future ITMA and CITME branded shows.

ITMA ASIA + CITME 2008 is jointly owned by CEMATEX (the European Committee of Textile Machinery Manufacturers), the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT (CCPIT-Tex), China Textile Machinery Association (CTMA) and China Exhibition Centre Group Corporation (CIEC). It is organised by Beijing Textile Machinery International Exhibition Co Ltd and co organised by MP International Pte Ltd.