By Patrick Avenell in Shunde
SHUNDE, CHINA: The 2009 Shunde International Expo for Household Electrical Appliances opened its doors to the trade this morning, with 439 exhibitors showing off their wares to potential importers, OEM partners, retailers, distributors and entrepreneurs. The show was opened by People’s Government of Shunde Premier, Mr Su Weibo, who said the exhibition is making big steps towards becoming the world’s foremost whitegoods show.
"Shunde, since its inception in 2001, has grown into a premier international trading arena with strong participation from renowned brands and attracting trade visitors and professional buyers from all over the world," Mr Weibo said.
Amongst those brands at Shunde in 2009 is Panasonic, Midea, Hisense, TCL and Electrolux. Whereas most Australians working in the consumer electronics trade would associate certain products with these brands, the Chinese often have very different perspectives. For example, we know TCL as an emerging player in flat panel televisions, but at Shunde, its stand is made up of household small appliances, whitegoods and seasonal products. This sort of exposure to the product variety shows what power the Chinese brands have once they have established a foothold in a foreign market, such as Australia.
"Shunde Expo, thanks to the abundant resources in exploring domestic markets, has, once again, won the favour of…manufacturers," Mr Weibo said. "This edition of Shunde Expo has grown even bigger with [the] exhibition area increasing to 24,500 square metres [and] 439 exhibitors in more than 1,300 booths."
Current.com.au understands that Shunde was relunctantly forced to turn down around 200 requests for exhibition in 2009, predominantly due to there not being sufficient space in the Shunde Exhibition Centre to house them. Discussions are currently under way to either expand the current centre or relocate to a new centre in order to accommodate all exhibitors in 2010.