Asia’s largest plastics show, Chinaplas, to be held from 20-23 May in Guangzhou, China, has come a long way from its first show in 1983 in Beijing, said Stanley Chu, Chairman of organiser Adsale Exhibition Services. At that time, the show occupied around 1,000 sq m of space and had no international visitors.

Speaking to journalists at the Media Day held prior to the show, he said this year it will span 240,000 sq m (a 9% increase compared to the 2013 Guangzhou-held show) with 3,282 exhibitors (40% from overseas) and expects about 25% of the expected 120,000 visitors to be from overseas.

“The event is a success as the number of exhibitors is more than the largest plastics show in the world, the K show. We may have the quantity but we are still lagging in terms of quality,” he said. Chu hopes that the industry will offer more technology and updates to up the quality level of the show.

Meanwhile, Chu said the success of Chinaplas is attributed by two factors: the growth of the Chinese industries, such as automotive, electrical/electronic, medical, construction and packaging; and the growth of the Chinese machinery industry.

Since Chinaplas first showcased 29 years ago, China has undergone a rapid change from a country deprived of crude oil and lack of skills in plastics processing to today’s global power which consumes, produces and exports the largest amount of plastic products and has become the biggest consumer and producer of plastics processing machinery in the world.

Last year, China produced 360,000 injection moulding machinery. “It has been the top market for machinery for the past 15 years,” Chu said.

But Chu said that the full potential of China has not been exploited yet as it only exports 18% of its machinery. This is where Chinaplas comes into the picture with foreign visitors viewing the machinery showcased, he added.

Ada Leung, General Manager of Adsale, also presented the show’s highlights such as a new zone on automation with live demos of robotics and production lines.

Another new highlight is the Design X Innovation, jointly organised by Adsale and chemicals firm BASF. It showcases a BMW i3, which boasts as the first vehicle to make extensive use of carbon fibre reinforced plastics in the entire chassis and structural parts; and Puma Ignite running shoes made from new foaming technology.

Rounding up the show will be 50 technical seminars with presentations from exhibitors.