Labelexpo Asia reports record visitor numbers

Labelexpo Asia welcomed a record 16,601 visitors to Shanghai in early December – an increase of 18.5 percent compared to the previous show in 2007.

On display were 130 pieces of machinery, including 60 working presses. Visitors came from 78 countries, with over 10 percent from outside China. Large delegations came from countries such as India, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia.

Exhibitors were almost exactly split between Chinese and international companies. They included UPM Raflatac, Avery Dennison, (Shanghai Xinmin) Taiyo, Omet, HP, Lintec, Basch Group, Dow Corning, Qingzhou Ekofa, Xeikon, DuPont, RotoMetrics and Erhardt+Leimer.  

The conference sessions that ran across the first three days of the show were well attended, with over two hundred delegates gathering to hear from industry experts. On the first day UPM Raflatac gave a keynote speech entitled ‘Globalization and opportunities beyond the recession’, with presentations following over the second two days from EFI Jetrion, HP Indigo, Xeikon, Coco Chen and Avery Dennison. 

Labelexpo Asia also brought together a number of the world’s label and printing industry associations to discuss the global trends and challenges in the industry. Associations present were Finat, the Label Manufacturers Association of India (LMAI), the Label and Tag Manufacturers Association of Australia (LATMA), the Self Adhesive Label Manufacturers 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). 

Wu Wenxiang, honorary board director of PTAC, said: ‘With China’s 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. 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.’ 

Yin Deming, president of the Shanghai Printing Industry Association, said: ‘Labelexpo Asia is a distinguished global show for label industry. It shows us current international label printing technologies, new craftworks, advanced equipment and materials. This show provides a wonderful platform to combine products being put on display, business trading and networking. This show proves that all these work very well together.’

Roger Pellow, Labelexpo managing director, said: ‘This year Labelexpo Asia has really proved that the show has come of age and become an important niche within the printing industry, which has been reflected in the high level of attendance. The show has once again shown the enormous scale of opportunities that exist for the labeling industry in the Chinese market.’