China remains at the epicenter of the global plastics industry. Its domestic plastics and rubber sectors continue to experience stable growth, while benefiting from government support and from its location in the heart of Asia. Across the region, which already represents a significant percentage of the world’s GDP, a strong middle class is emerging, along with a huge appetite for consumer goods, vehicles, housing and the like. This positions the annual CHINAPLAS trade fair as the perfect platform for showcasing all that the polymer industries have to offer.

China's plastics industry has expanded tremendously in the past three decades. It even experienced steady growth during the past five years, while China's annual economic growth rate slowed to a 25-year low of 6.9 percent in 2015. In this “new normal”, China’s economy is projected to grow at an even slower rate in the coming years. But the country’s economy remains massive, and some enterprises now see this as the right time for them to focus on enhancing productivity, efficiency and competitive advantages.



On October 20 in Düsseldorf, Germany, at the K 2016 trade fair, Mr. Stanley Chu, Chairman of Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd., organizer of CHINAPLAS, will deliver a forward-looking presentation titled “China’s Plastics Industry Development in the Coming Five Years” at the KI Group Polymer Summit.

“China is now the No. 1 producer and consumer of plastic resins in the world,” according to Mr. Chu. “Its continued expansion is riding not only on the general GDP growth, but on the fact that plastics, as an advanced material, is widely used and increasing its penetration into the automotive, electrical and electronics, packaging, building, and medical industries, as well as into many other hi-tech sectors in China. This provides a favorable platform not only for further development of the plastics industry, but also for growing the scale of CHINAPLAS.”


CHINAPLAS 2017, to be held next May in Guangzhou, in southern China, is expected to set a record in terms of its scale, reaching 250,000sqm of exhibition area. While expanding its size, the organizer also is dedicated to developing CHINAPLAS as a technology-oriented show with a focus on key topics of “Intelligent Manufacturing”, “High-tech Materials” and “Green Solutions”. This matches up well with the key development directions of the plastics processing industry set under the China’s 13^th Five-Year Plan, including developing multi-functional, high-tech materials and additives, accelerating the market share of high-end products, speed up research and development of plastics equipment as well as green, energy saving and high efficiency new processing technologies.

As for plastics machines, Mr. Chu points out that while China has imported a lot of advanced technology from Europe, many major European plastics machinery suppliers have set up their production facilities in China either through wholly owned subsidiaries or through joint-venture companies. Such strategic investments underscore the increasing importance of the China market on the global stage.

Moreover, with years of development, China's plastics machinery suppliers have also geared up. In terms of volume, China has been the largest plastics machinery manufacturing country in the world for more than 10 consecutive years. Some of the country’s top brands are now actively building up their overseas plants and networks to support aggressive export drives. Chinese-made machines are very popular throughout Asia. In 2015, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, India, South Korea and Malaysia were among the top 10 export markets for China’s plastics machines.

Top 10 exporting countries of China plastics machines in 2015

Country	Value	Volumes	% Change in Value	% Change in Volume
	(US$ million)	(units)	(2015 vs. 2014)	(2015 vs. 2014)
Vietnam	177.35	5,381	26.0%	19.2%
Thailand	131.73	2,403	36.3%	17.5%
USA	110.23	89,140	2.5%	115.0%
Indonesia	95.22	2,442	2.6%	0.0%
Iran	84.25	2,580	-14.4%	-21.0%
Turkey	83.20	1,668	-21.3%	-22.0%
India	73.79	2,306	9.2%	2.4%
South Korea	69.02	2,319	23.3%	14.2%
Mexico	62.60	1,121	51.7%	31.6%
Malaysia	60.96	2,465	-3.0%	11.5%

Asia-Pacific represents the world's fastest-growing consumer market, and experts predicted that by 2030 this region will account for two-thirds of the global middle class and more than 40% of worldwide GDP. Mr. Chu said, “The rise of the middle class in the region will generate huge demand for automobile, electronic devices and consumer goods, such as healthcare, cosmetic products and sportswear etc. which in turn will create enormous market opportunities for the plastics and rubber industries. Each year, 60% overseas visitors of CHINAPLAS are from Asia. We believe that Asian buyers’ future purchasing power will be beyond our expectations.”

CHINAPLAS 2017 will take place from 16-19 May 2017 at the China Import & Export Fair Complex, Pazhou, Guangzhou, PR China. As Asia’s No.1 plastics and rubber trade fair, the show will bring together the most ground-breaking plastics and rubber technologies, a wide array of raw materials, and extremely cost-effective processing and management solutions from 3,300 Chinese and overseas exhibitors. This will include 12 country and regional pavilions, including large groups from Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and the USA. Buyers from companies of all sizes will discover advanced solutions to cope with their challenges, ranging from operation optimization and cost savings to sustainability and new-product development.

The CHINAPLAS team will be present at the K 2016 fair in Düsseldorf from 19-26 October to promote CHINAPLAS 2017’s new highlights and mingle with buyers and industry experts. The organizer has prepared fabulous gifts, free registration passes for every visitor who passes by its booth (EN1-02) at the show. The team invites you to stop by to say hello, network with them and share your visiting experiences. See you soon in Düsseldorf!

Follow CHINAPLAS on social media and stay tuned
You are welcome to follow CHINAPLAS on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn where you can share your questions, connect with like-minded entrepreneurs, and get the first-hand tips for visiting CHINAPLAS.

For more information about CHINAPLAS 2017, please visit the official show website at www.ChinaplasOnline.com.