Paperworld China achieved growth in visitor numbers

Oct 19, 2017

Exhibitors and vistors discovered valuable business prospects through themed zones and dedicated areas

Seminars and expert dialogue unveiled the development trends of stationery retail and cultural products

The latest edition of Paperworld China ended on a bright note this year, with 23,368 visitors (2016: 22,932) from around the world gathering at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre in China. The top 10 visiting countries and regions were Japan, the US, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, India, Germany, France, Thailand and the UK. From 21 – 23 September, the fair hosted 548 exhibitors from 13 countries and regions and showcased the most comprehensive product portfolio ranging from office supplies, stationery, hobby and craft products, as well as cultural products with oriental features.

Commenting on the fair, Ms Judy Cheung, Deputy General Manager of Messe Frankfurt (Shanghai) Co Ltd, said: “The 2017 fair has achieved unanimous praise from exhibitors and visitors for its business effectiveness and comprehensiveness. Our various themed zones and dedicated areas were especially popular throughout the three day fair, and draw significant amount of visitors. These special areas, including Small yet Beautiful, Oriental Sense, Creative Pavilion and the debuting Shanghai Journal Show, not only facilitate effective sourcing, but also reveal the latest trends of each sector.”

“Small yet Beautiful” exposed the changing trends of stationery retail industry

“Small yet Beautiful” was a mock retail shop and featured over 100 global leading brands such as 3M, Comix, Mind Wave, Pilot, Uni and more. The area showcased a whole range of products such as stationery, gift and lifestyle products. It aimed to present the most effective business model and product display that help stationery retailers to draw more customers. During the course of the fair, the area was consistently packed with visitors.

Japanese brand Mind Wave exhibited at Paperworld China for the first time. Mr Cheng Chun Xiao, Manager of Mind Wave (Official Agent in China) said: “The setup of Small yet Beautiful is ingenious and has been a big success. Many visitors saw our products from the showcase and visited our booth to further discuss cooperation opportunities with us.” Mind Wave manufactures and sells journals, stickers and other stationery products.

Mr Zhang Chao Yong is the purchasing manager from Da Qing Zhi Sheng Stationery Office Equipment Co Ltd. He also shared: “The visit to Small yet Beautiful was eye-opening. We are in the retailing business and it is important for us to evolve with the market trends. I learnt a lot from the showcase such as the most popular product design and display that I can apply in our business.”

Another special highlight of Paperworld China was the Hong Kong Graphic Arts Pavilion, which displayed innovate printing arts and products. Mr Graham Yung, Project Officer and Management Consultant at Hong Kong Productivity Council, said: “We would like to show to our target customers that Hong Kong printing arts are not only traditional printings, we incorporate innovative or eco-friendly elements to add value to the products. The show brought serious buyers to our pavilion exhibitors who are exactly looking for high-end print products and premiums. ”

The Shanghai Journal Show, a special area that converged a strong number of designers and outstanding designed products such as journals, stickers and tapes, also gained tremendous success this year. The event opened on the last day of the fair and draw numerous buyers, some of which queued up whole night to wait for its opening.

Mr Zhou Rong Tang visited the event to purchase stickers in floral and vintage patterns for his personal journals. He noted: “I found the products here very beautiful and crafty and I hope to see a larger scale next year. I think journals are becoming more popular in China and spreading across different generations. ”

Oriental Sense promoted cultural designed products

As an integral part of Paperworld China, this year’s Oriental Sense Zone converged nearly 70 renowned museums, emerging designers, design brands and quality manufacturers. Together, they displayed a whole range of products that combined with oriental elements or traditional craftsmanship, such as a notebook that highlighted the beauty of “Hanzi” (written Chinese characters), and a scarf that used traditional ink painting patterns, for example.

For the 2017 edition, in cooperation with the Nanjing Museum Administration, fair organisers launched a 2017-2018 cultural products development programme, and invited around 100 emerging designers to create their own cultural products inspired by Nanjing's famed "Porcelain Tower".

Ms He Xiang, Director of Culture development Department at the Nanjing Museum Administration, said: “The programme gathered so many talented designers and their creations are extraordinary. Over the last three years cooperating with Messe Frankfurt, I’ve witnessed that the product quality and the business results are improving, and we will continue this partnership.”

Ms Li Yue Ping, Purchasing Manager at Beijing Xinyilede Commercial and Trade Co Ltd, visited the zone to source gift products with original and cultural designs. She said: “I like the atmosphere of the zone and the diversified range of products integrated with strong oriental elements, such as pens, tea cups, scarfs. I believe these kind of products will become more and more popular in the market in the future.”

Apart from the dedicated zones and areas, the fair also welcomed pavilions from Chinese regions including Yiwu, Wenzhou, Qingyuan, Ningbo, Fujian and others. Together, they demonstrated the latest industry developments and trendy stationery products from their respective regions.

Mr Sumir Kumar, a representative from Smiththerm Pvt Ltd, an India based trading company, shared: “I am here to source innovative, good for value stationery that I can export to Canada, India and Mexico. I was truly impressed by the product quality and inventive design. I have visited around 20 companies and will consider placing orders with some of them. This is a great platform to meet with direct stationery manufacturers. I will definitely come back next year.”

Seminars and expert dialogue unveiled the development trends of stationery retail and cultural products

Running alongside with the fair were a series of fringe events, which provided a range of forward-thinking ideas for the industry. One of such event was the “2017 YinLing Brand China Stationery & Book Industry Forum”. Mr Jiang Zheting, Marketing Director of ODS Design, was one of the speakers at the forum. He noted: “Nowadays, a conventional bookstore or stationery shop needs to evolve and provide a whole offerings of stationery, books, cultural products and leisure activities. We are here to share our thoughts and successful business models with the audience. The forum was packed and we were satisfied with the outcome.”

Another worth mentioning forum was the “Seminar on Enhancing Design and Marketing for Chinese Museums’ Creative Products”. Discussing this event in particular, Mr Shiro Aoki, Senior Consultant and former Executive Director COO of Japan Institute of Design Promotion, commented: “The attending audience were all outstanding in their own field. It is a good platform to promote cooperation from different sectors and stimulate new ideas. This will help boost the development of the culture industry.”

Meanwhile, to provide opportunities for the industry to connect with new generations, the fair organisers also arranged a “TEDxKids” talk, which allowed adults and children to share their views and thoughts. Chen Bo Ting was seven years old and attended the talk with his parents. He said: “I like the event. It provided the chance for the children to get inspired by the speeches and about the nature of the topics covered.”

Paperworld China is jointly organised by Messe Frankfurt (Shanghai) Co Ltd, the China Chamber of Commerce for I/E of Light Industrial Products & Arts-Crafts, and Guangzhou Foreign Trade South China Exhibition Corp Ltd.

For more information about the show, please visit www.paperworldchina.com or email: stationery@hongkong.messefrankfurt.com.