China’s premier hardware trade fair a magnet for top industry buyers

Date：2011/10/1

Nearly 40,000 high-caliber visitors from the tools, hardware and DIY (do-it-yourself) industry from 85 countries and regions attended the largest event of its kind in China – the China International Hardware Show (CIHS) - which drew to a close on September 23 in Shanghai after three busy days.

The annual trade fair offers specialist traders and buyers from the industry sectors of Tools, DIY and Building Hardware, Security, Locks and Fittings with a comprehensive overview of products and services.

Among the prominent industry bodies visiting CIHS 2011 was the authoritative European DIY Retail Association (EDRA) which endorsed the event as a supporter for the first time. EDRA represents 90 major home improvement retailers in 50 countries worldwide. Fronted by its general secretary John W. Herbert, EDRA has led a contingent of buyer delegation to source here.

“China now enjoys reputation for higher quality products, which are more environmentally-friendly, innovative with better design and safety. I`m looking forward to visiting every booth at CIHS and wish the event a great success,” said Mr. Herbert.

Another notable participating trade body is the North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) whose managing director, Bill Lee remarked: “I am excited to visit the China International Hardware Show, to see all of the wonderful and innovative hardware products and to meet with many exhibitors. I had the pleasure of visiting the hardware show last year and it was fantastic. It is wonderful to be back here again.”

An onsite survey conducted by the organizers revealed that exhibiting companies were very satisfied with the quality of trade visitors.

Preliminary results of the visitor survey confirmed that over 75 percent of respondents stated that they share responsibility in purchasing and procurement decision-making or are involved decisively in that area.

On the show’s ability to draw such quality attendees, Michael Dreyer, vice president, Asia Pacific of co-organizer Koelnmesse said: “The show is not only a reflection of the market’s movements, but also sets the trend to an extent. For the past 3 years, CIHS has been adopting a repositioning strategy from being an export-focused sourcing platform to an import-focused one. We’ve sharpened our efforts on domestic PR, marketing and promotion involving an intensive series of high-profile press conferences and the launching of a new online platform to heighten awareness and visibility.”

With quality buyers come happy exhibitors.

Daniel Voelkel, president of Voelkel GmbH from Germany said: “It’s absolutely necessary to be in the Chinese market, the biggest in the world. Which better place can give us the chance to meet buyers from this country? Nowhere except at CIHS. It’s not our first time to exhibit here, and after these busy and fruitful days, you can be sure we’ll be back next year.”

“CIHS is the only real professional hardware show in the Asian region. The International Hardware Fair in Cologne is the only one for the European market. Both are organised by Koelnmesse and it’s a big advantage for the exhibitors,” echoed Sumit Stephem, marketing manager of Black Jack, India.

First-timer Dreihner from Taiwan whose consulting manager Formost Wu was quoted as saying: “It’s our first time here. I can tell CIHS is better for us than Canton Fair and I’m not surprised. Shanghai is the worldwide new meeting point…of course, we’ll be back year.”

Besides Dreihner, CIHS also had its fair share of veterans. Simar which hails from Mexico seems to have the winning formula. CEO Alberto Marchina Daued shared: “We’ve been exhibiting our products for 5 years and our business is more and more successful but it takes time to be successful in China. If companies want to enter this big market, the best platform is CIHS but not only for a one-shot. It’s a long term business.”

And they are not alone in thinking so.

“We’ve been coming here since the beginning and we’ll continue to exhibit in the years to come. Not only because we have a factory in China, but because we get new contacts every year coming from countries we could never have met without this fair,” said Ricky Chang, sales manager of Infar, Taiwan.

“We’ve been exhibiting at CIHS since many years ago and have seen it become the most important hardware fair in the Asia Pacific region, and now worldwide. Shanghai is a meeting point for overseas buyers. That’s why we are doing our best to launch our new products here,” said the general manager Werner Ruckinger of German Prebena.

Featured at CIHS 2011 were some 2,400 exhibitors sprawled across more than 110,000 square meters of floor space.

After a somewhat sluggish development during the worldwide financial crisis two years ago, CIHS 2011 once again saw increased interest from overseas hardware manufacturers in the Chinese market.

John Bielecki, global sales director of Ultra Lube from the US expressed: “I’m still very surprised to meet so many overseas visitors. It’s very good for our business, but our main target is the Chinese market. You cannot pretend to be involved in the global market If you don’t want to sell to China. That’s why we are here, and for a long time I hope.”

The German pavilion supported by the Association of German Tool Manufacturers (FWI) participated with 13 exhibitors. Joining them were three Taiwan pavilions driven by the Taiwan Hand Tool Manufacturer’s Association (THMA), the Importers and Exporters Association of Taipei (IEAT), and the Taichung Importers & Exporters Chamber of Commerce (TIECC) respectively, who brought 120 members to exhibit at CIHS 2011 taking up nearly 2,000 square meters in total.

However, like major local Chinese manufacturers which were represented such as Jiangsu Hongbao, NingBo Great Wall, Ningbo Jiejie, Shanghai Jetechtools and Toolfull Industries, not all foreign producers are eyeing the China pie.

Franco Morganti from Italian Kapriol revealed: “Maybe you will be surprised. We’re not here for the Chinese market, but for the overseas market, and we’re highly satisfied. We met Australian, South American, UAE, Russian visitors, and of course European ones.”

Showcase and seminars spotlight innovations
The International China Tools Forum hosted by CIHS co-organizer China National Hardware Association (CNHA) and the International Federation of Hardware & Housewares Association (IHA) was very well received by trade delegates with its mix of information and networking relevant to the current China tools industry.

Having waved goodbye to its first ten years, CIHS kick-started its next decade with a continual focus on quality and brand building. Newly launched this year, the “Best of China” showcase highlighted and lauded good examples of innovative ‘Made in China’ products which are able to compete well in the western markets among big brand names.

Best of China gives recognition to new technologies, product safety, environmental aspects, and outstanding product design. Winning entries were displayed in Hall E2.

“To encourage the innovation of hardware products, CNHA has been organizing relevant competitions among Chinese hardware and kitchen product manufacturers in recent years’, said Shi Senglan, deputy vice president of CNHA.

The next CIHS will be staged from September 19-21, 2012 once again at the Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC) in China.

China International Hardware Show 2011 in figures
No. of exhibitors  2400
No. of visitors            nearly 40,000
Floor space occupied 115,000 sqm

www.hardwareshow-china.com

Note for editorial offices:
You can find photos of China International Hardware Show in our online image bank at www.hardwareshow-china.com under “For the Press”. Voucher copies are kindly requested.

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About China International Hardware Show
China International Hardware Show (CIHS) in Shanghai is Asia`s largest trade fair for the entire hardware and DIY sectors offering specialist traders and buyers a comprehensive category of products and services ranging from Tools, DIY and Building Hardware to Security, Locks and Fittings. Increasingly, European and American exhibitors are using this show as their gateway to markets in Asia.
www.hardwareshow-china.com

About the Organizers
Koelnmesse
As a world-renowned trade fair organizer, Koelnmesse has an excellent track record for organizing some of the world’s most successful trade events, such as the accomplished International Hardware Fair and spoga+gafa in Cologne, Germany. With over 80 years’ experience in organizing large-scale commercial events connecting buyers and sellers, Koelnmesse brings forth an unrivaled skill-set and expertise needed to develop China International Hardware Show into one of the premier international trade shows in the world.
www.koelnmesse.com

China National Hardware Association
With almost 3,000 members, China National Hardware Association is made up of China’s key hardware enterprises and professional associations. Its mission is to foster collaboration and communication between the government and enterprises, so as to build up China’s hardware industry.
www.chinahardware.org.cn