Chinaplas in Shenzhen for the first time from 13 to 16 April 2021

CHINAPLAS, Asia's No. 1 plastics and rubber trade fair, will be held in Shenzhen for the first time from 13 to 16 April. Due to the postponement in the midst of the 2020 pandemic, CHINAPLAS will now be held again after two years. On 24 March 2021, exhibition organiser Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd hosted a kick-off event ahead of this year's event.

With the move to Shenzhen and the channelling of potential in the Greater Bay Area Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao, CHINAPLAS is pursuing several goals at once.  It aims to accelerate the demand for improved production conditions in the Greater Bay Area and seize the opportunities of economic recovery and smart environmental protection to promote China's technological innovation and high-quality development in the plastics and rubber industry.

At the Kick-off Ceremony of Chinaplas, around 150 representatives from associations, exhibitors and media of the plastics and rubber industry gathered to explain the current development status and forecasts of the plastics industry in China.

Wang Zhanjie, Vice President and Secretary General of China Plastics Processing Industry Association gave a detailed review, emphasising the increasing pace of technological innovation in China's plastics industry and its tremendous progress in functionalisation, lightweighting, greening, micro-moulding. In his subsequent outlook for the industry, he highlighted that the technological innovations will also accelerate the transformation and developments of the plastics processing industry and it can take advantage of a huge domestic market to expand its applications. The industry also aims to further strengthen environmental and green development.

Su Dongping, Executive Deputy President of China Plastics Machinery Industry Association, presented facts and figures of the 13th five-year period (ended 2020) in her speech "Development Status and Prospects of China Plastics Machinery Industry". The business income of China plastics machinery industry reached RMB 81 billion, with an average annual growth rate of 5.7%. The average annual export growth of China's leading plastics machinery manufacturers was 6.34%. For the five-year period now starting, Su Dongping predicted that the annual production value will exceed 100 billion RMB; the average annual growth rate of business income and total profit is expected to be more than 6%; R&D investment is expected to increase more than 6% of business income; professional technical staff will account for more than 25% of the industry's workforce.

Looking at the largest and most intensive area of China's plastics industry - the Greater Bay Area - Fu An, President of the Guangdong Plastics Industry Association, analysed that the country strongly supports the development of the Greater Bay Area and to this end the "Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay" was issued and implemented in February 2019. The "Guangdong Provincial Key Construction Project Plan in 2020" issued by the Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission states that there are more than 400 projects in the 9 cities of the Greater Bay Area, with a total investment of more than RMB 2.8 trillion. These projects are in the fields of automotive, smart manufacturing, new materials, home appliances and raw materials. This represents a huge market for the application of the plastics industry and shows tremendous prospects for sustainable development.

Starting this year, CHINAPLAS will be held in Shenzhen in every odd-numbered year to meet the demand for high-end industry development and the thriving development of the Greater Bay Area. In the even years, Chinaplas will be held in Shanghai.

Ada Leung, General Manager of Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd, introduced the key technology areas of Chinaplas 2021 in her speech: "5G x Plastics & Rubber" breakthrough technology; circular economy & green technology; smart industry 4.0 technology; high-performance materials; engineering plastics and reinforced carbon fibre composites; and flexible product design solutions. She also emphasised that pandemic prevention and control is a top priority for the organisers to ensure a safe and hygienic exhibition environment for all participants. For overseas visitors who are unable to attend the show in person, or for visitors who are unable to attend the show on all four days, there is the option to participate online via official live streaming.