Further Remarkable Growth Experienced at IE Expo

IE expo 2013 (China), which was held in the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC) from May 13 to 15, once again underlined its position as the number one environmental technology show for China and Asia.

More than 30,000 visitors from 67 countries attended the show, a 25-percent increase compared to last year. Eugen Egetenmeir, Managing Director of Messe München International, is convinced that “the steadily rising visitor numbers and the high internationality prove impressively that IE expo is the most important meeting place for the Asian environmental market.” Furthermore, this year IE expo occupied 42,000 square meters of exhibition space and attracted 834 exhibitors from 28 countries. Of those exhibitors 67 percent – which is more than 560 exhibitors – were from China.

The importance of this event was also underlined by the presence of high-profile representatives from governments and industry associations, e.g. Wang Yuqing, Chairman of the Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences, Feng Changgen, Vice Chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology and Dr. Marcel Huber, the Bavarian State Minister of the Environment and Public Health. Chairman Wang Yuqing spoke highly of IE expo: “To solve the pollution issues, the environmental technology and industrial development are crucial. In this context, IE expo provides a high-level communication platform to promote policy dialogue, joint research and business development. The show integrates a large amount of advanced environmental technologies and products from China and abroad, serving the Chinese environmental course well and making a valuable contribution to building a 'Beautiful China'.”

In addition to the high-ranking involvement, the level of interest from international companies was also very satisfying. In total there were joint pavilions from 12 countries and regions, among them Austria, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan and the US. “IE expo is our key show in the Far East. This is justified by the growing weight of the show in this market in terms of increasing exhibitor and visitor numbers,”  said Urs Heutschi, CEO of Swissenviro.ch.

Furthermore, IE expo 2013 attracted first-class visitors from all continents. The top ten visitor countries and regions were – in this order – China, Korea, Germany, Taiwan, Turkey, Japan, Hong Kong, India, Austria and Russia.  Wengang Zhao, Chief Representative of the Shanghai office, Shandong Jingjin Environmental Protection Equipment Co., Ltd. commented: “The quality and quantity of IE expo visitors this year are very satisfying. We have 30 employees at the booth, where everyone is busy meeting customers.” And Jiang Gang, General Manager of MMI-ZM Trade Fairs (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., stated that “IE expo 2013 gave evidence of its strong expertise in environmental technologies, which received positive feedback from our worldwide visitors.”

This year’s show also featured its biggest ever supporting program, supported by the Chinese Society of Environmental Science (CSES), the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People’s Republic of China, the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA) and further government ministries and associations from China and abroad. More than 200 high-caliber speakers provided comprehensive and informative lectures on the environmental markets in China for over 3,900 delegates. Dr. Helge Wendenburg, Director-General of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety observed: “We were completely surprised by the huge interest of IE expo visitors in our projects. The interest was so high that we even ran out of our brochures after the first day. IE expo is indeed the platform in China and Asia for experts and decision-makers regarding innovations and solutions in the environmental field.” Dr. Hans G. Huber, Chairman of Huber Technology added: “No other environmental show in China can compete with IE expo.”