Just recently, in Shanghai, there has been talk of a project to plan Asia’s new largest exhibition venue. According to Mark Cochrane of Business Strategies Group, the announcement was first heard at the ceremony for signing the “National Convention Project” between China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and Shanghai Municipal Government.

This new framework agreement for the project includes main investors China Foreign Trade (Group) in a joint venture with Shanghai Expo Group.

According to local press, this new exhibition is described as being MICE (Meeting, Incentive Travel, Convention and Exhibition)-related. Despite Hong Kong staying ahead of the competition for the global MICE sector, the venue’s location is planned for the Hongqiao district of Shanghai. The proposed site will be located in close proximity to the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, as well as the Hongqiao Rail Station.

The site plans are said to cover a 1.04 km² area that would include MICE amenities, such as logistics facilities and exhibition halls. The government’s goal is to have construction started by the end of this year, yet no set date has been determined. Currently existing buildings on the site would have to be demolished and removed, and tenants relocated, for construction to begin on the project.

The exhibition venue, which could be as large as 500,000 m², would steal the “largest exhibition venue in Asia” award away from the Chinese Import & Export Commodities Fair Ground – Pazhou Complex in Guangzhou (338,000 m²) also owned by the China Foreign Trade (Group).

The Top 5 Exhibition Centers in Shanghai (BSG’s database):

The Top 10 Exhibition Centers in Asia (based on total gross indoor size):

Source: Asia Business Media

China’s largest Import and Export Trade Show, called the Canton Fair, saw a 5.9% increase this year with almost 200,000 attendees, according to Mark Cochrane’s blog, Asia Business Media. The event began in mid-October and ended on November 4th, 2010; it hosted over 23,000 vendors/exhibitors occupying over 57,000 booths and visitors from 208 countries in an impressive 1.13 million square meter complex in Guangzhou, China. One of the most significant increases in attendance was Europe, up 23% from last year with over 41,000 attendees.

Top 5 countries (in attendance):

1. Hong Kong
2. United States
3. Taiwan
4. Iran
5. Russia

Source: Asia Business Media

One of the easiest ways to get to know most of the manufacturers in an industry is to attend a series of trade shows over the course of 1-2 years.  EventsEye.com is the world’s most comprehensive trade fair directory.  If you’re looking for suppliers, a trip overseas that allows you to attend 2 or more trade shows will be an eye-opening experience. Especially if you combine that with a bunch of factory visits you find on sites like ImportGenius.com,  GlobalSources.com or Alibaba.com. If you’ve never been, it’s also worth paying a visit to Yiwu, a permanent trade fair that offers the lowest possible prices on manufactured goods. However, you should only source goods in Yiwu if you don’t care about building a brand.

Search for shows in your industry on EventsEye and see if you can attend a half a dozen over the next 2-years.  The shows are a great opportunity to see the latest products and think creatively about where your industry is headed.  If you also take the time to do some deep networking, product development, and competitive intelligence, you’ll gain  the confidence that comes with truly knowing your industry.

The mother of all trade shows is the epic Canton Fair, hosted each April and October in the world’s largest exhibition complexes in Guangzhou, China.  Thousands of Chinese exporters display their wares to tens of thousands of buyers in what must be the largest gathering of people purely for the purpose of doing commerce.  And for years coming to these fairs in China twice per year would be sufficient for a middleman importer to sustain their competitive advantage relative to manufactured goods produced anywhere else.

While prices at the Canton Fair and similar sourcing shows remain very cheap relative to prices in the U.S., importers should be sure to build extra time onto their trip to visit as many suppliers as possible, including those found on research sites like ImportGenius.com.  Additionally, you are highly advised to go shopping in the local street markets. You may be able to find suppliers who are much cheaper than those who forked over the huge bill to display at the fairs.

Trade shows primarily cater to overseas buyers coming to China only once per year, rather than savvy local sourcing agents. As a result, many of the prices offered there may be exceedingly high relative to the local market, while at the same time seeming quite cheap  when compared with the American market.  This is, of course, the reason that trade is good for everybody involved.

Still I am reminded of my last visit to the Canton Fair where  I saw LED headlamps (the kind you take on camping trips) selling for $8 in the trade fair. This seemed like a good price for those visiting from America, where the same items routinely sell for $30 or more at retail.  But on the same day, a vendor in another Guangzhou wholesale market offered me those identical headlamps for less than a dollar.  The price for each unit (when buying 20,000) was 8 times higher than the price the local vendor was charging for each unit, without a minimum order.