The second ITMA ASIA + CITME exhibition ended on 26 June 2010 on a high note, with participants hailing it a major success. Despite persistent economic challenges, business sentiments on the show floor were buoyant with many exhibitors clinching orders from the Chinese and other Asian buyers.

 The show owners, CEMATEX (the European Committee of Textile Machinery Manufacturers) and its partners in China - the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT (CCPIT-Tex), China Textile Machinery Association (CTMA) and China Exhibition Centre Group Corporation (CIEC) were delighted with the positive response.

 Mr Edward Roberts, President of CEMATEX, said, “The second ITMA ASIA + CITME has established the reputation of the combined show as the most significant platform for the Asian textile manufacturing community. We are extremely pleased with the outcome and will continue to work towards providing textile machinery manufacturers with a leading-edge showcase.”

ITMA ASIA + CITME 2010 welcomed visitorship of more than 82,000 from 94 countries and regions during the five-day show. Over 20 percent of the visitors were from overseas. The biggest group of foreign visitors was from India, followed by Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and Korea.

Exhibitors give the thumbs up

A total of 1,171 exhibitors from 28 countries and regions took part in the exhibition which grossed over 100,000 square metres of the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC). The top five participating economies in terms of number of participants were China, Germany, Italy, China Taiwan and Japan.

China occupied 31,000 square metres of net exhibit space. Germany took second spot with exhibiting space totalling over 5,000 square metres net, followed by Italy with more than 4,000 square metres net, China Taiwan with over 3,500 square metres net, and Japan with over 3,300 square metres net.

Thanks to the strong visitor turnout, exhibitors were delighted with their participation. Among them was Mr Heinrich Trützschler, Managing Partner of the Trützschler Group and Vice Chairman of the VDMA Textile Machinery Association.

Mr Trützschler said, “The trade fair was very successful in general and especially for our company. The interest of Chinese customers in our products was considerably higher compared with the 2008 combined show. Therefore business conducted at the show was also very good. We were delighted that the visitors were more international. Visitors came from various Asian as well as non-Asian countries.”

 Another exhibitor who was impressed with the quality of the visitors was Mr Liu Haitao, President of China Hi-Tech Group Corporation. He enthused: "We are very satisfied with our participation in the exhibition. We find that this year’s combined exhibition had improved greatly in terms of organisation, especially in bringing in quality visitors. The local visitors are of better quality and many of the overseas buyers are serious buyers.”

Mr T. Ishibashi, Managing Director of the Japan Textile Machinery Association which is a special partner of the combined show and which coordinated the Japanese participation, said: "Most of our exhibitors were happy with the organisation of the exhibition. Not only did some of the leading Japanese companies secure huge orders, the smaller players also had a rewarding participation.

 “Besides meeting Chinese buyers, our exhibitors managed to have good discussions with buyers from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and other Southeast Asian countries. This is further evidence that the ITMA ASIA + CITME combined show has become an international platform in Asia."

The successful staging of the 2010 show has set the stage for the third combined show, which will be held at the SNIEC in Shanghai from 12 to 16 June 2012. It will be organised by Beijing Textile Machinery International Exhibition Co Ltd and co-organised by MP International Pte Ltd.