- Over 5,000 trade visitors attend the first Texcare Asia held in mainland China
- Water and energy efficient machinery attracts special interest from the visitors
- TCA Textile Care Training Centre Conference and Workshop judged a valuable side programme for attendees
Texcare Asia took place in mainland China for the first time last week and was hailed a success by exhibitors and visitors alike. The international trade fair for modern textile care attracted 5,259 visitors from 52 countries and regions. Most of the 121 exhibitors praised the fair for the quality and diversity of attending buyers.
Of the 5,259 visitors, 80% were from China who came from 29 provinces or cities around the country. The remaining 20% of visitors came from 50 countries and regions all over the world. The visitors came from a wide range of industries, including commercial laundries and dry cleaners, hotels, hospitals, airlines, care homes, government institutions and others.
The 121 exhibitors came from 18 countries & regions including Australia, Belgium, China, Denmark, Hong Kong, Japan, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and the UK, and there were group pavilions for German and US exhibitors. The show occupied 7,500 square metres of space, a considerable increase on the last editions of Texcare Asia.
Many exhibitors displayed products that were specific to the Chinese or Asian markets and a number of them noted that a great deal of interest had been paid to water and energy efficient machinery in particular.
"Many visitors to Texcare Asia are discovering solutions to save water and energy, which is very topical in China at the moment," said Mr. Engelbert Heinz, Managing Director of Kannegiesser.
"Texcare Asia has been an excellent fair from our point of view. There has been a better quality and quantity of visitor compared to past Texcare Asia fairs. We have made a number of potential sales leads at the fair, leads from people all over the world not just China. We have succeeded in meeting the people we had wanted to at Texcare Asia, they have been professional quality visitors."
Mr. Kaj Andersen of Jensen Asia noted, "Our compact tunnel washer has attracted a lot of attention. It is new to the Asian market and consumes less water than most other machines currently available in China."
For many exhibitors, Texcare Asia 2005 was a unique opportunity to enter the growing Chinese market and a number of them noted the fair had exceeded their expectations by far. Mr. Erich Fink, Export Sales Director for Gaertner said, "Texcare Asia has been our first step into the Asian laundry and dry-cleaning industry and it has definitely exceeded our expectations. We have met with a company who may be a potential cooperation partner in China. We have also met a new contact from Hong Kong who we will go and visit after the fair regarding two major hotel projects taking place in Hong Kong and Macau. Texcare Asia has opened up endless business opportunities for us."
For those companies already represented in China, Texcare Asia presented an opportunity for them to expand their business further. Mr. Kaj Andersen of Jensen Asia added, "we had two main reasons for coming to Texcare Asia, firstly to meet new contacts, secondly to explore opportunities in new market sectors ahead of the Olympic Games. We have had many detailed technical discussions during the fair and have many leads to follow up on."
Many exhibitors acknowledged that the Chinese market is undergoing huge change and the potential for future business is enormous. There are a number of factors affecting the industry in China at the moment, including the growing middle class, increasing awareness about hygiene, the increased number of hotels and hospitals being built around China.
Mr. Lee Edwin Wilson, Vice President of International Sales for Alliance commented; "Currently, China does not have the infrastructure to support the commercial laundry industry. However, the new buildings that are being constructed will have the water inlets, related water-pressure and waste water disposal units required for the industry to take off here." In addition to this, young Chinese people are using fashion as a way of expressing themselves and are wearing fabrics that require dry-cleaning and special care. This ultimately will result in increased usage of private dry-cleaning shops.
Mr. Chris Barnes, Director of Sales, Asia Pacific for Knight Equipment was at Texcare Asia to promote the company's cleaning solutions. He said that "the use of liquids in China is still relatively new as many commercial laundries are still using powder products. However, as the market becomes more automated, which it inevitably will, the use of liquids will increase."
Cited as a good place to meet with regional and global contacts, Texcare Asia brought together people from the entire world of laundry and dry-cleaning. Mr. Jeffrey Rabinowitz, National Sales Manager for Hoffman New Yorker said, "Our reason for coming to Texcare Asia was to meet current customers and to introduce products to potentially new dealers. We met with people from China, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Morocco."
Furthermore, many exhibitors came to Texcare Asia with the aim of recruiting distributors in China. "We came to Texcare Asia in order to expand our distribution network here in China," said Mr. Massimo Sanvito, Export Manager for Pony Finishing Machines. "We have made a number of interesting contacts at the fair."
In addition to the range of laundry and dry-cleaning equipment on show at Texcare Asia, a number of innovative products were presented including the Electrolux Lagoon wet-cleaning system. Mr. Landry Guillochon, Product Category Manager for Electrolux said, "The system is aimed to small businesses that need professional equipment, Texcare Asia has been a good opportunity to show the Lagoon concept live to potential buyers in the Asia Pacific market."
Running alongside was the TCA Textile Care Training Centre Conference and Workshop, which attracted around 95 and 45 attendees respectively.
The next Texcare Asia will take place in Shanghai in 2007. For more information, please visit www.texcare.messefrankfurt.com or email info@hongkong.messefrankfurt.com.
Media contacts:
Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd.
Ms Emma Fuszard
Tel (852) 2238 9972
Fax (852) 2519 8632
emma.fuszard@hongkong.messefrankfurt.com
Messe Frankfurt Shanghai
Ms Eva Tam
Tel (86) 21 5292 9222 ext. 205
Fax (86) 21 5292 8777
eva.tam@china.messefrankfurt.com
Exhibitor comments on the show
"Texcare Asia is a fantastic fair. I have been very pleasantly surprised. We came to Texcare Asia to see how the market is developing and also to recruit customers. We have definitely achieved our aims. It is a necessity for us to be at Texcare Asia. We were at the past three editions of the fair and will definitely be in Shanghai. We have been very impressed with the quality of visitors here in Beijing."
Mr. Albert Goudkuil, Goudkuil
This is the right time for German companies to enter the Chinese market as it really needs the advanced German technology. The Olympic Games and World Expo will bring about inevitable change in Shanghai and Beijing and advanced technology will be required. This is the first time we have had a German pavilion at Texcare Asia, there are many big brand names here and I am pleasantly surprised by the number of international visitors here. China is a fast growing market and energy/water saving is becoming a priority here, especially in Beijing. Many operators are unaware of the technology that enables reuse of water. There will be a big move towards environmentally friendly equipment, especially as the Chinese government is likely to impose tighter regulations on the use of water in the near future."
Ms Katja Eberl, Marketing Director for the German Garment and Leather Technology Association, VDMA
"Texcare Asia has been an excellent show from a sales perspective for us. We came here to find out about local manufacturers and to find new distributors and sales leads. We have met with some very good quality potential distributors and have actually signed orders during the fair. Despite the growing competition in China, we are confident that there are ways for international companies to tap into the market as the Chinese customers will grow and educate themselves about what is available on the international market. We have exhibited at every Texcare Asia show to date and we will be in Shanghai in 2007. This edition of the fair has been the best yet and we have been pleasantly surprised by the number of international visitors."
Mr. Dan Levy, Vice President International Sales, Maxi Companies
"Texcare Asia has helped Alliance to establish itself as a true player in the Asian market. We have seen a very good volume of traffic throughout the fair and also very good quality visitors. A couple of orders have been placed during the show through distributors. We have more than achieved aims as we did not expect to have orders placed during the show. This is third Texcare Asia we have exhibited at and we will be in Shanghai in 2007. Texcare Asia is a regional fair and is even becoming global. The market in China is very dynamic, there is huge growth potential and the markets here are still very young. We predict that our company's growth here will be considerable. In fact we recently employed someone to work full-time for us in Shanghai as it is now necessary for us to have someone on the ground in China."
Mr. Lee Edwin Wilson, Vice President International Sales, Alliance Laundry Systems
"We have been very impressed with the diverse range of visitors at Texcare Asia. We have even met with a company that may be a potential cooperation partner for us in China. Texcare Asia has opened up endless opportunities in China for our company. Company makes building blocks that can be used in a number of industries. We have found out a lot about the market and feel very optimistic about our future here."
Mr. Erich Fink, Export Sales Director, Gaertner
"Texcare Asia is a trade fair of international standard and high levels buyers. This is a channel for us to show our company to the West. We saw many visitors from outside China, such as Russia, Japan, and some European countries. We are very satisfied with the results because it reached beyond our expectations. This is a good communication platform for Chinese companies to the global markets."
Mr. Yan Gang, Jiangsu Sea Lion Machinery Group, China
"We brought a laundry system that have been developing for more than 30 years. The Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964 and the Osaka World Expo in 1970 boosted demand for our laundry systems - now a similar situation in happening in China. The 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo will no doubt create an increase in demand for environmental friendly laundry systems. That's why we are now introducing this system to China now. We have a good impression of the fair and we believe Texcare Asia is one of the best ways to promote our company image."
Mr. Yoshiaki Nakamura, Deputy General Manager, Business Affairs Department, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Industrial Machinery Co., Japan.
Visitor comments
"We came here to study the Chinese manufacturing market, to better understand the prices and quality of goods available. There remains a difference in quality between Western manufacturers of laundry and dry-cleaning equipment and Chinese manufacturers, however the quality will definitely improve over the coming years. Texcare Asia has been a good opportunity to meet with current suppliers who are exhibiting here."
Mr. Alexandre Zabolotny, General Director of Diana Trade, Russia
"We are very happy to be at Texcare Asia. The show is an excellent platform for us to meet with friends that we already know, as well as making new contacts. Apart from our group, we met three other Taiwanese delegations at the show. We will be happy to visit the show again."
Mr. Kuo Tsung Yi, Chairman of Taiwan Laundry Technology Research Association
"I would like to say you "thank you" for the visits of laundries which you organized and to which you invited us during Texcare Asia. It is with a lot of interest that the Foblatex members appreciated this day. Our trip in Beijing was a success and I think that we will be much more numerous in Shanghai in 2007."
Pierre-Eric FOLLIOT, FOBLATEX, France
