Asia’s leading biennial technical textiles fair, Cinte Techtextil China, concluded in September with 12,496 visits recorded over the three days of the fair, representing a 63% increase compared to the previous edition in 2012.

Visitors came from 61 countries and regions, with the top five (excluding Mainland China) being Korea, Taiwan, Japan, India and Hong Kong. In total, 459 exhibitors from 22 countries and regions took part in the fair, a 4% increase compared to the last edition.

“Being held independently to the apparel fabrics show really ensured more qualified buyers attended, with many exhibitors expressing that visitors to their booths were more aligned with their target market,” said Wendy Wen, Senior General Manager of Messe Frankfurt (HK).

Flow and quality of buyers

Many exhibitors commented this year that the quality of buyers had improved, and that they were able to find their target buyers at the fair.

“We’ve been to this fair for many years now as it is a professional one with high-quality visitors,” explained Susie Zhang, Marketing Representative in the Shanghai office of German testing company ISRA Vision AG.

Chinese technical textiles market

Potential in the Chinese technical textiles market is still high according to exhibitors, and there is growing demand across a wide range of products, many of them report.

“We have some existing customers here in the filtration industry and there is strong demand in China for these products,” B. Mehmet Inceoglu from the Technical Fibres division of Turkish company AKSA explained. Medical products are another area with potential in China according to the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA).

The nonwovens industry is also experiencing strong growth in China. “Nonwovens business is doing fantastically in China and is growing significantly; there’s lots of room for growth here,” Edward McNally from Oerlikon Textile, Germany outlined.

European quality

As in the Chinese textile industry as a whole, demand for European products is very high in the technical textiles sector, with domestic buyers appreciating the quality and technological advantage these products have.

“Buyers here definitely recognise European quality,” Guy Decleer from Belgium’s Beaulieu Fibres International confirmed. “Those manufacturers that are producing here for export in particular appreciate higher quality. And being in the Belgium Pavilion helps too as buyers automatically see us as Western, having a different quality level and offering new products,” he said.

Products on offer

Visitors to the fair generally came away satisfied with the range that was on offer. Emily Blanch, a Design Engineer for Australian company ResMed was sourcing textiles for the medical industry. “The fair has a good range of products with the 12 application areas so it’s a good reason to come here. Both domestic and international exhibitors here have good-quality products, and there are more future textiles compared to other fairs.”

In addition to the wide range of products and technology at the fair, the fringe programme provided information on the latest trends in the market and product developments. Over 30 seminars and product presentations took place, with topics ranging from regional and global market overviews to new product innovations.

The Innovation Showcase also displayed the newest technology and fabrics from exhibitors from around the world.

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