Every year, there are hundreds of fairs held in China, but which one can really help your brand grow in China? Choosing a fair that fits your brand identity is very important. A good decision on the fair you attend can help you target the right audience and find opportunities. Otherwise, you might even harm your brand reputation.
To help brands know more about the fairs you can attend, here we are going to introduce you to 10 Top fairs in China covering different industries. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you find yourself interested in any of them or want further information about fairs in China.
No.1 China International Import Expo (CIIE)
China International Import Expo (CIIE) is currently the most important fair in China. Hosted by the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China and the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, this is an official fair at the national level. CIIE was founded in 2018, it is held once a year in Shanghai.
CIIE is held in the city center of Shanghai at the National Convention and Exhibition Center(Shanghai). There are more than 2800 companies attended the fifth CIIE, of which 284 companies are on the list of Fortune 500. The total intended transaction amount during the fifth CIIE has reached 73.52 billion USD.
The exhibition covers 6 main fields:
- Food and Agricultural Products
- Automobile
- Intelligent Industry & Information Technology
- Consumer Goods
- Medical Equipment and Healthcare Products
- Trade in Services
No.2 China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair)
China Import and Export Fair, also known as Canton Fair, is established in 1957. Co-hosted by the Ministry of Commerce of PRC and the Peoples Government of Guangdong Province and organized by China Foreign Trade Centre, it is held every spring and autumn in Guangzhou, China. Canton Fair is a comprehensive international trading event with the longest history, the largest scale, the most complete product variety, the largest buyer attendance, the broadest distribution of buyers’ source country, and the greatest business turnover in China.
There are 8 Shows at the Canton Fair:
- Electronics & Household Electrical Appliances
- Building & Home Decor
- Industrial Manufacturing
- Hardware & Tools
- Household Items & Consumer Goods
- Fashion Life
- Health & Reaction
- Trade Service
The Canton Fair is welcoming buyers and sellers from all over the world, there were buyers from 228 countries and regions at the Spring fair in 2022. Although the Canton Fair was held online since the Covid pandemic, we can reference the past statistics for an image of its scale. In 2019, the last year for Canton Fair to be held offline, there were 195,454 buyers attended the Spring Session and 186,015 buyers attended the Autumn Session. The turnover was also impressive: 29,730 million USD in the Spring Session and 29,288 million USD in the Autumn Session.
No.3 China Beauty Expo & China Beauty Supply
China Beauty Expo (CBE) is the biggest fair for the beauty industry in China. It is an international business service platform for the global beauty industry chain. Having been held for 26 years, the 26th CBE has attracted more than 3200 exhibitors and more than 10000 brands. It is hosted in the city center of Shanghai, with an exhibition area of 260000 m2.
The CBE has 3 themes:
- Daily Chemical
- Professional Beauty
- CBE Supply( China Beauty Supply)
The 3 themes of CBE have covered every corner of the beauty industry. With a huge number of professional visitors, brands can always find clients and potential cooperators in this massive fair. At the same time, CBE Supply is also a 360-degree educational platform where you can first hand learn about:
- The latest advancements in product manufacturing and distribution through the CBE Supply Technology Conference.
- Understand licensing opportunities at the IP Conference.
- See the best in production at the Meiyi Technology Awards.
- See the best in product design at the Brilliant Awards.
The 26th CBE has launched an online exhibition for visitors to attend at their homes. This made it much easier for visitors who cannot come and created more opportunities for brands. There were 1.21 million online viewers from more than 80 countries and regions who attended the 26th CBE, which resulted in 4170 trade demands.
Find it a pity missing the 26th CBE? The 27th CBE is coming soon on May 12-14 in 2023. You still have plenty of time to prepare, and you can always find support at GMA.
No.4 Shanghai World Jewelry Expo
Here comes one of the most important fairs for the jewelry industry in China: Shanghai World Jewelry Expo. Since 2006, the Shanghai World Jewelry Expo is held 3 times a year (Spring, Summer, and Autumn exhibitions) in the city center of Shanghai. This exhibition usually lasts for 4 days, when hundreds of brands from all over the world are taking the chance to enter the Chinese market.
The Jewelry Expo in Spring 2022 has more than 1200 booths in a 20,000 m2 hall with over 800 brands engaged. In the 4-days exhibition, they will be exposed to more than 20k visitors from individual jewelry lovers to commercial buyers. The exhibition organizer will also invite buyer groups from other cities out of Shanghai, which benefits the brands with a larger exposure scope and more opportunities.
Who is welcome to join this Expo? You!
The Shanghai World Jewelry Expo is welcoming exhibitors from every part of the industry chain of jewelry.No matter whether you are a gem dealer, jewelry brand, personal jeweler, or jewelry equipment brand, you can always find your position in this fair.
No.5 China Wedding Expo
The China Wedding Expo is an exhibition for all brands engaged in the wedding industry including wedding jewelry, wedding banquet, wedding dress, wedding services, etc. Compared to other fairs, the China Wedding Expo is targeting its audience more sharply and accurately. This fair has a much higher frequency than other fairs, it is held 4 times a year by season in 7 First-tier cities in China including Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Wuhan, and Tianjin. In total, there are 28 fairs a year, 2 days per fair.
You might ask if it is really necessary to hold the same fair 28 times a year, but I’m gonna tell you: Yes, it is. The Wedding Expo is facing all the professional visitors, but also customers who are getting weddings soon. The slogan of the Wedding Expo is to fit all your demand for the wedding in 2 days. So all the non-professional visitors you will meet at the Wedding Expo usually have an indispensable consumption demand for their wedding. It is not normal for brands in the wedding industry to meet such a huge customer group, so try your best to attract more customers at the Wedding Expo!
No.6 Fashion SZ Show
With 21 years of history, Fashion SZ Show has become one of the best fairs in China for middle and high fashion brands. The Shenzhen fashion industry has grown to 260 billion CNY with more than 2600 brands, counting for 10% of the whole Chinese market share.
The Fashion SZ Show is formed by the systematic integration of five events:
- Fashion SZ Show
- THE RUNWAY Fashion Week
- NEST SHOWROOM
- GBA Fashion Summit
- Fashion Shenzhen Awards
For your intuitive overview of the Fashion SZ Show, the 2022 Fashion SZ Show has attracted 965 brands, 105,648 visitors, and 274,916,049 media exposure. The exhibition area is 100,000m2, incredible, isn’t it? For any fashion brand that wants to join the Chinese market, Fashion SZ Show can be a key event.
No.7 Ontimeshow
The Ontimeshow is a fair for designer brands. Located in the center of Shanghai, Ontimeshow is leading the trend of Fashion with the creative ideas of top designers. The name comes from the saying “Mencius” which means “right time, right place, with right people” these are the three elements that lead to success.
This idea fits perfectly with the environment of the fashion industry in China at the moment. The booming fashion industry is facing unlimited opportunities and challenges in the huge market gradually opening in China, especially for young designer brands. Under such timing and background, the emergence of Ontimeshow has undoubtedly become an effective platform to connect designers and the fashion market.
The Shanghai Ontimeshow is now acting as a communication platform for fashion as well as an order-placing exhibition. It is held 4 times a year in 4 seasons, facing global designer brands and targeting the Chinese market. Designer brands can find their customers here, but what’s more important is to join the fashion network in the heart of Shanghai.
No.8 Children Baby Maternity Expo
The Shanghai Children Baby Maternity Expo (CBME) is an exhibition for the child, baby, and maternity industry. It is a one-stop trade fair uniting top buyers, manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, and sellers together under one roof in Shanghai.
With the raise in life quality, Chinese people are paying more and more attention to the quality of products for children and mothers. This strong demand made CBME an essential fair for related brands to show their quality and brand identity to the customers. Your brand in CBME will be able to be exposed to around 100,000 individual visitors and 110,000+ trade buyers according to the data of the CBME 2021.
In CBME 2021, there were 2726 exhibitors and 4253 brands attending this fair in a 300,000 m2 hall. Engaged buys include customers, business buyers, and distributors. According to the key takeaways provided by CBME, 51.86% of the buyers are offline distributors and 22.6% of the buyers are online distributors. The KOL visitor group with 120+ KOLs from 10 media brought 128.3+ million exposure to the brands via live-streaming. This also greatly helps the brands to gain visibility and reputation in the Chinese market.
No.9 FURNITURE CHINA
Furniture China is one of the biggest international exhibitions of the furniture industry hosted in Shanghai. According to the feedback of an exhibitor: “During the exhibition, LULACASA was full of splendor. And the booth has won the attention and favor of many visitors. There were a lot of people coming to consult!”
According to the data disclosed by the host organization, there were 2000 exhibitors and 113,333 visitors who attended the Furniture China 2020. The data shows that 29.2% of the visitors are professional buyers, 43.21% of them are designers or architects, and 27.52% of them are visitors or media. The purpose of visiting is also analyzed:
- To evaluate participation as exhibitors — 2.6%
- To look for suppliers/distributors/business partners — 26.9%
- To collect marketing information — 26.7%
- To source new products & learn about the latest industry/market trends — 30.3%
- To contact current business associates — 1.7%
- To purchase products & contract orders — 11.8%
No.10 Design Shanghai
Design Shanghai is one of the world’s most prestigious international design events and Asia’s premier design event. Constantly breaking new ground, it has set a precedent in China’s ever-growing design community. Showcasing the best design brands and galleries from across the globe, Design Shanghai provides a unique and exciting platform to network and establish long-term business relations with Asia’s top architects, interior designers, property developers, retailers, and private buyers.
The fair is divided into 6 sectors:
- Contemporary Design
- Classic & Luxury Design
- Kitchen & Bathroom Design
- Workplace Design
- New Materials & Applications
- Objects & Accessories
The richness of the exhibition content enables any brand with a high taste in design can find its position in Design Shanghai. The variety in the industry can also bring cross-border promotion among different sectors.
GMA: Locate Your Brand in Chinese Fairs
About Us:
GMA is an experienced marketing agency rooted in Shanghai: the heart of the Chinese economy. With more than 10 years of experience, we have helped hundreds of brands with their China projects. Contact GMA and make your first step to growing your business in China.
How Can GMA Support You
GMA will always listen to your demand. By analyzing your current situation and your target, we will make our complete strategy for your business in China. We can help you choose the most suitable fair for you to attend, accompanied by other digital marketing tools if needed. We offer 360°service, so you will never be stuck at a stage when you don’t know where to go or what to do. Because GMA will always be by your side.
ROI-Focused Agency, For Your Own Benefit
We never try to sell you as many services as possible, GMA is treating all our clients as our best friends. We always hope your brand grows with the best ROI, so we only suggest the most suitable solution with the best ROI.