Labelexpo Asia confirmed its status as the leading label event in Asia in December when the show welcomed a record 16,601 visitors, compared to 14,004 in 2007, an increase of 18.5 percent. The rate at which the label industry in Asia is continuing to grow was clearly reflected in the size of this year’s show, which took place at the Shanghai New International Expo Center.
Catering solely for trade professionals, this year’s show demonstrated a high quality of visitors who were able to see 130 pieces of working machinery, which included 60 working presses. Labelexpo Asia 2009 clearly showed how the exhibition is gaining maturity and gradually establishing its own niche in the industry.
Visitors came from 78 countries, with more than 10 percent of people from outside China. Large delegations were welcomed from countries including India, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia.
Exhibitors were almost exactly split between Chinese and international companies. They include UPM Raflatac, Avery Dennison, (Shanghai Xinmin) Taiyo, Omet, HP, Lintec, Basch Group, Dow Corning, Qingzhou Ekofa, Xeikon, DuPont, RotoMetrics and Erhardt+Leimer.
Labelexpo Asia also played host to a very important meeting which brought together a number of the world’s label and printing industry associations to discuss the global trends and challenges in the industry today. Associations present were: FINAT, the Label Manufacturers Association of India (LMAI), the Label and Tag Manufacturers Association of Australia (LATMA), the Self Adhesive Label Manufactures Association of New Zealand (SALMA), the Japan Federation of Label Printing Industries (JFLP) and the label division of Printing and Printing Equipment Industries Association of China (PEIAC).
“With China entrance into the WTO, and with the Chinese reform and opening-up policies over the last few years, we have started to move into a new stage of history,” said Wu Wenxiang, honorary board director of PTAC. “In order to fulfill the overall revitalization of the Chinese printing industry, we should stress the importance of foreign exchange and communications, keep pace with the time, and make full use of advanced technologies from abroad. Labelexpo Asia has created a platform for label and flexo equipment manufacturers, suppliers, converters as well as brand owners to do this. I believe that whether they are an exhibitor or a visitor, they will get plentiful opportunities from the event.”
