Chinese Trade Shows

China plays host to literally thousands of trade shows each year. These range from small focused, industry and regional specific affairs, all the way up to the mammoth, all-sector events staged bi-annually in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Each year, the list of shows, industry sectors and regions covered gets bigger as more businesses try to cash in on the Chinese export boom.

So before diving in with your credit card to snap up a bargain deal on flights and accommodation for a forthcoming trade fair, make sure you have positive answers to a few straightforward questions: -

1. How closely does this trade fair actually target your own business interests?
2. Specifically does your business fall within the show’s intended target market?
3. Are the types of vendor or service provider you really need to meet going to be at the show?

If the match doesn’t seem particularly strong, you’re probably looking at the wrong trade show. More likely than not there will be at least two or three trade shows in China each year that exactly match your interests, your part of the supply / production / distribution chain and any regions you may have earmarked.

How to get information on a Chinese Trade Show

To get the details you need about a Trade Fair you should be able to speak directly with the event’s organisers. Unless you’re focusing on a really obscure niche sector –most worthwhile trade shows will have English language help lines that you can ring or email directly for more information.

Make a point of finding out who is exhibiting at the fair and get the organisers to be specific about which parts of the supply/distribution chain the show is aimed at.

Unless the show is being staged for the first time, you should also be able to find coverage of previous events in trade journals and specialist websites.

How to get the most out of a Chinese Trade show

If you’ve already attended a trade fair in China you’ll understand just how big they can be. They give visitors the opportunity to meet hundreds of potential suppliers or partners under one roof within just a few days. If you’ve not yet been to one – prepare to be overwhelmed.

One of the biggest challenges you’re likely to face at any Chinese trade fair is coping with the sheer scale. There will likely be hundreds and exhibitors, spread out through multiple halls and possibly across multiple floors. What’s more, they’ll all be doing their best to catch your attention.

Your job is to find just one or a handful that exactly match your requirements. For that reason you should be very clear about what you’re looking and whom you want to meet before you arrive.

Things to do before you get there:

To keep you on track and make the most out of your visit we recommends the following action plan.

1. Make a short-list of the kind of exhibitor you want to meet.
2. Contact the trade show Organisers for a list of exhibitors and what they do. (They should be able to provide this information in English, but if not we can help you with translation.)
3. From the organiser’s list, make a short-list of exhibitors that look like they may match your requirements.
4. Spend some time doing some preliminary research on each company.
5. Draw up a list of questions that you want to ask each company.
6. Email your questions to the company and tell them that you’ll be visiting their stand. Try to get them to answer your questions in advance. But at the very least tell them to be prepared to answer your questions at the show.
7. If necessary follow up to make sure you email has been received. There’s a reasonable chance that an English language email will get lost in the system.
8. Order far more business cards than you think you’ll ever need – several hundred. You’ll need them.
9. Book an interpreter (We can do this for you).

One of the main purposes of a trade fair is to allow visitors to simply browse and discover new options. But if you follow these instructions you’ll find yourself turning up to the show with a far more focused mindset and a clear action plan.

And if you manage to see all your pre-selected exhibitors on the first day, you’ll give yourself some clear benchmarks against which to compare others you’d hadn’t previously considered. You’ll also be able to ask better questions of exhibitors.

What to do when you get there

Think of it this way. During the course of the show you may come across 30, 50 or more stands that are of interest in one way or another. At the show you’ll be in a noisy, busy environment, with bright lights, surrounded by crowds of people and LOTS of distractions. How are you going to accurately remember who is who and the impression they made on you?

You’ve put yourself to considerable expense to get to the show, so make the most of it by being as organised as you can in gathering information. After all, a trade show is an intelligence-gathering mission.

• Arm yourself with at least one sturdy A4 notebook with pages that don’t easily tear out and a stapler.

• When you find an interesting stand, make up a double page in your notebook. Staple their card and brochure to the page and take notes there and then. Don’t wait until lunchtime or the evening to record first impressions – you will forget important details. First impressions are often valuable, so make a point of recording them.

• Do make a point of talking to other visitors to the stand. Listen to the questions others ask too. Visitors are much overlooked resource at trade shows. These are people in similar lines of business to you. They may be existing customers of the exhibitor. They may be able to tell you things that the exhibitor won’t, or give you a valuable third party recommendation. So if you strike up an interesting conversation with someone else at a stand – make a note on the exhibitor’s page- staple their card to the page too. Doing this will help you reconstruct the day’s events in your mind when you get back home.

Have realistic expectations

It may seem like stating the obvious but trade shows are all about marketing: glitz, glamour, hype, sales patter(pattern?) and commissions. Tens of thousands of dollars can go into preparing a polished show presentation and sales staff may have spent a whole year rehearsing their sales spiel. What they say and promise however, may be far from what they can actually deliver.

Trade shows are great for sourcing off the shelf products. So if you’ve already done your homework on a company you may well be able to take advantage of special show discounts or use a face-to-face meeting with a hungry sales person to negotiate attractive terms.

On the other hand if you’re planning on manufacturing in China, realistically it is just the first step establishing your supply chain. A place to discover your options and find some promising leads.