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INTERVIEW
Citexpo – Organiser Wilko Fong Talks about the Future of China’s Largest Tyre Exhibition
Citexpo’s Wilko Fong
Citexpo will once again take place at the Everbright Convention and Exhibition Center in Shanghai from 9-11 September. This year’s show will be the 13th edition of the exhibition, which in a country where there is no shortage of exhibition organisers wanting to enter the tyre market, has established itself firmly as a leading event for the global tyre industry. We talked to Wilko Fong, Managing Director at organiser Reliable International Exhibition Services Co.,Ltd about his plans for the further development of the show.
Retreading Business: There are several large tyre exhibitions in China. What are the strengths of Citexpo when compared to the competition?
Wilko Fong: CITEXPO has been established since 2003 and has
been developed as the largest tyre show in the Asian region, one of the largest and most renowned tyre shows in the worldwide tyre industry. Compared to other tyre exhibitions in China, CITEXPO is known to be the most practical and professional tyre exhibition in the industry. CITEXPO is also known as the most international exhibition with the largest number of visitors coming from over a hundred foreign countries and regions. Every year, more than 80% of the exhibitors re- book their stands for the next year's show and we believe this fact tells us that the exhibitors are well satisfied with the result
they achieved from CITEXPO.
RB: What are your aims and plans in terms of growing and expanding the show?
WF: It is encouraging that CITEXPO's size has been growing annually in the past thirteen years. In order to accommodate the continuous growth of the show, in 2016, CITEXPO will be moved to a new and larger venue, Shanghai World Expo Exhibition Center. The new venue will allow us to further expand the show in the coming years. China has become the largest tyre production and consumption market in the recent years, we are confident that a professional tyre show like CITEXPO will continue to be highly demanded by the worldwide tyre market.
RB Can you give us an idea of your
overseas visitor profile and how this has developed over the years?
WF:: Compared to other tyre exhibitions in China, without any doubt, the number of overseas visitors has been the most valuable asset of CITEXPO that obviously surpasses other competitors. In the 2014 show, we had over 5,800 overseas visitors from 112 foreign countries and regions. All these high quality buyers contributed with their buying power significantly to the tyre market. We must say that, as a professional show organiser, we know that quality and quantity of visitors are
support the show?
WF: Unlike some other association member oriented shows, CITEXPO has positioned itself as a trade and information exchange oriented show for the tyre market. Our exhibitors are of full range from top tier to lower tier which makes CITEXPO a comprehensive market place for the buyers of different tiers. Although, it is very unlikely that we could find all of the manufacturers in any one show, we still find that some of the Chinese manufacturers do showcase their products through their trading subsidiaries even if the
the essentials of the success of a trade show. On the other hand, we have also spent a lot of effort in bringing a good number of domestic visitors to CITEXPO, so that CITEXPO can serve as a most comprehensive platform for domestic and foreign trading and information exchange.
RB: Citexpo has a very large number of tyre manufacturing exhibitors. However, the majority of the really large Chinese manufacturers tend not to exhibit at the show. Is this something that bothers you, and if so, what can you do to get them to
manufacturers could not present themselves in our show.
RB: Citexpo continues to grow as an exhibition. Are there any particular market sectors that you would like to expand?
WF: In the first instance tyre accessories, tyre maintenance products, etc. is a key area that we would wish to further expand. Retreading is another area where we will be aiming to expand in the future.
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