Chinaplas kick-off ceremony held in Shenzhen

CHINAPLAS, Asia’s No. 1 plastics and rubber trade fair, will be held in Shenzhen for the first time and it becomes a breakthrough of Shenzhen’s exhibition and convention industry with an exhibition area of 350,000sqm. On March 24, 2021, the show’s organiser, Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd., grandly held a "CHINAPLAS Shenzhen Kick-off Ceremony".

Mr. Stanley Chu, Chairman of Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd., and Mr. Marius Berlemann, General Manager of Messe Düsseldorf (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., co-organizer of the exhibition, took the lead to deliver welcome speeches, followed by heavyweight guests in the plastics and rubber industries to kick-off the ceremony. About 150 representatives from associations, exhibitors, buyers and media gathered together to witness this glorious moment of embarking on a new journey in Shenzhen.

Stepping on Shenzhen and channeling the potentials in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, CHINAPLAS dreams bigger with extraordinary missions - strive to expedite the demands for manufacturing upgrades in the Greater Bay Area and grasp the opportunities of economic recovery and smart environmental protection transformation to promote China's plastics and rubber technological innovation and high-quality development.

Meeting the targets of the 14th Five-Year Plan  

2021 is the commencement year of the "14th Five-Year Plan". Elites in the plastics and rubber industries gathered together to explicit the current development status and forecasts of plastics industry in different dimensions at the event, staging a feast of thoughts.

Mr. Wang Zhanjie, Vice President & Secretary General, China Plastics Processing Industry Association, delivered a speech on “China’s Plastics Processing Industry Basic Information and 14th Five-year Plan Development Proposal". In the in-depth review, he mentioned that the speed of technological innovation in China's plastics industry during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period has significantly accelerated, and made huge progress in functionalization, lightweight, ecologicalisation, micro-forming and “+smart”. The new landscape, new challenges and new changes during the "14th Five-Year Plan": Technological innovation will accelerate the transformation and development of the plastics processing industry; the plastics processing industry can take advantage of the huge domestic market to expand its applications; the quality of plastic products and services will be enhanced following to the upgrading of the consumer market; the industry will continue to strengthen ecological and green development.

The plastics processing industry has made great progress, and the upstream machinery industry has also achieved good results. Ms. Su Dongping, Executive Deputy President of China Plastics Machinery Industry Association, in the "Development Status and Prospects of China Plastics Machinery Industry", introduced that during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, China's plastics machinery industry’s business income reached RMB81 billion, with an average annual growth rate of 5.7%. The average annual growth of the export value, major business income, total profit, and research and development expenses of China's superior plastics machinery companies reached 6.34%, 10.03%, 11.33%, and 12.11% respectively. Her view on the industry development goals during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period -- the annual output value will exceed RMB100 billion; The average annual growth rate of business income and total profits is expected to grow over 6%; R&D investment will account for more than 6% of business income; Professional technical personnel will account for more than 25% of employees in the industry.

In the speech of "Europe's Plastics Machinery Industry - Economic Situation and Sustainability Goals 2020/2021", Mr. Thorsten Kuehmann, Secretary General of Europe’s Association for Plastics and Rubber Machinery Manufacturers (EUROMAP) mentioned: "Our industry is in good shape. Plastics and rubber machines grew by 7% in 2020; secondly, the image of the plastics industry is indeed under pressure; thirdly, we have to go for circular economy; fourthly, plastic is good for climate."

Focusing on the largest and most intensive area of China's plastics industry - the Greater Bay Area, Mr. Fu An, President of the Guangdong Plastics Industry Association, analysed in the "The Development & Forecast of the Plastics Industry in the Greater Bay Area" that the country is strongly supporting the development of the Greater Bay Area and for this purpose, the "Outline Development Plan for the  Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay" was issued and implemented in February 2019.; In the "Guangdong Provincial Key Construction Project Plan in 2020" issued by the Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission, it is stated that there are more than 400 projects in the 9 cities of Greater Bay Area, with a total investment of more than RMB2.8 trillion. These projects involved automotive, smart manufacturing, new materials, home appliances, and commodities, providing a huge market for the application of the plastics industry and showing huge prospects for sustainable development.

Opportunities at the Greater Bay Area

In addition to the representatives of industry associations, representatives of exhibitors and buyers participating in CHINAPLAS also discussed the business opportunities arisen from the high-quality development in the Greater Bay Area, as well as the new technology needs derived from the era at the ceremony.

Mr. Li Jianjun, Director & CSO of Kingfa Sci. & Tech. Co., Ltd. delivered a speech on "The Sustainable and Innovative Development of China's Plastics Industry", in which he shared his views on the prevention and control of plastic waste pollution & sustainable development, as well as his experience in green and low-carbon circular development from the aspects of degradation, reuse and recycling. Kingfa produced more than 1.2 million tons of environmentally friendly quality recycled plastics from 2004 to 2019.

Mr. James Zhang, General Manager of YIZUMI IMM Division / Director & DGM of YIZUMI Group, Guangdong Yizumi Precision Machinery Co., Ltd., shared in the keynote speech "Application-driven, Smarter Future", highlighted lightweight, personalized, multifunctional, recyclability, degradability, energy saving, emission reduction and other environmental protection trends which help to reduce cost and enhance efficiency, improve automation, smart machines, industrial interconnection and other digital transformations, providing new functions and new needs for the industrial development. In order to respond quickly to the new needs of the industry, Yizumi will be bringing a wealth of new applications and new total technology solutions to CHINAPLAS 2021 such as ReactPro Polyurethane reaction injection moulding integrated solution, Micro-Foaming injection moulding solution, electric injection moulding solution and intelligent factory solutions to the exhibition.

Arburg helps customers to upgrade their business, quickly establish digitalisation and intelligentisation, create a green world and circular economy through the combination of international advanced technology and localized solutions in the Greater Bay Area. Ms. Christine Li, Marketing Manager of Arburg (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., introduced in a speech titled "WIR SIND DA" that Arburg will showcase some innovative technologies such as pipette tip, LSR lens for car lights and lightweight-FDC, digital & intelligent PM at CHINAPLAS.

The innovation of plastics and rubber materials and machinery has speeded up the arrival of intelligent era. The new intelligent era is coming, driving upstream demands for new materials and new equipment. As a representative of the downstream application industries of plastics and rubber, Mr. Gence Shi, the R&D Director of Lenovo Research Institute, mentioned in "Rubber and Plastics Technology Leads Intelligent Era", that in response to the new intelligent era, the demand for special dielectric materials, high-strength and weight-reducing materials, environmentally friendly, healthy, and degradable, recyclable/antiviral materials, etc. has soared significantly. From 4G to 5G, consumer electronics materials have changed: filter materials have changed from metal filters to microwave ceramic filters, PCB key materials have changed from copper foil substrates to high-frequency substrates, and antenna materials have changed from PI to LCP/MPI, etc., providing a vast space for the application of plastics.

Be smart, and more environmentally friendly! Mr. Chen Shou, Chairman of Shenzhen Beauty Star Co., Ltd., discussed how to make efforts in the aspects such as recyclable design, multi-channel recycling, and classified and graded utilization of plastics packaging under the circular economy in his speech titled "A Discussion on Sustainable Development of Plastics Packaging at CHINAPLAS 2021". He stated that CHINAPLAS, as an "accelerator" to promote innovation in the plastics packaging industry, is looking forward to seeing recycling equipment, post-consumer recycled materials, single structure recyclable materials, CMF surface treatment process, biodegradable materials and smart and efficient equipment at CHINAPLAS 2021.

Forge ahead in a new era 

Mr. Stanley Chu, Chairman of Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd. delivered a welcome speech at the ceremony. He emphasized that, nowadays, the production of plastics machinery in China has ranked first in the world for 15 consecutive years, which is the strong evidence that China is transforming from a large manufacturer to an influential one. In this development process, CHINAPLAS has made significant contributions in facilitating technical exchanges, trades, and even the collaborations and joint ventures between China and overseas countries. From 2021, CHINAPLAS will be held in Shenzhen every odd year, in response to the demand of high-end industry development as well as the thriving development of the Greater Bay Area. Let’s take advantage of the opportunities brought by the new national policies.

Ms. Ada Leung, General Manager of Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd. shared in the speech of “CHINAPLAS 2021 Show Highlights & Concurrent Events” that there will be 5 key technology areas, namely "5G x Plastics & Rubber" groundbreaking technology, circular economy & green technology, industry 4.0 intelligent technology, high performance materials, engineering plastics and reinforced carbon fibre composite materials, and flexible product design solutions. She also mentioned that the organizer will take every possible step for epidemic prevention and control, to maintain safe and hygienic show environment for all participants. For overseas visitors who cannot visit the show in person, or visitors who may not able to join the show for 4 days, they can join online through the Official Live Streaming elaborately brought to them.

The organiser of the exhibition is thankful to have unfailing support from different parties. Mr. Ma Jun, General Manager of Shenzhen Zhaohua Int’l Exhibition Operation Co., Ltd. gave a speech on "Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center (SWECC) – an Ideal Stage for World Class Exhibitions" and indicated the location advantage of SWECC - the top of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, the center of the Greater Bay Area. SWECC is a world-class mega exhibition & convention complex, with a total area of 500,000sqm. of indoor exhibition area upon completion, as well as peripheral supporting facilities that integrate multiple functions in a diversified complex format, standardization and normalization of epidemic prevention and control, etc.

Mr. Zhang Yiqing, Office Manager, Shenzhen Airport Customs, introduced in his speech “”On-site + Free of Guaranty" Service with Highest Level" that in order to support this mega exhibition, the Airport Customs directly dispatched personnel to the SWECC. Exhibits entering the country through various means of transportation, no matter by air, land or sea, can go through Customs clearance procedures at the SWECC directly. Moreover, exhibitors are exempted from paying tax deposits during the temporary entry and exit of overseas exhibits, providing the most convenient and efficient services for overseas exhibitors.

Mr. Wang Wenguang, Executive Vice President and Secretary General of Shenzhen Polymer Industry Association, expressed his high expectations for the upcoming exhibition in April in "Going Forward Hand in Hand, Together We Create & Share". Due to the postponement amid the epidemic in 2020, CHINAPLAS is being held again after 2 years. A huge industry demand is ready for take-off. He looked forward to CHINAPLAS collaborating with the plastics and rubber industries to grasp new demand and business opportunities in the strong economic recovery.

Let’s compose a new chapter together! With "New Era · New Potential · Innovation for Sustainability" as the show theme, CHINAPLAS 2021 will take place from April 13-16, with 350,000sqm. of exhibition area, 3,600+ international renowned exhibitors, and a large amount of innovative materials and advance technologies to be showcased. It is expected to attract a lot of professional visitors from different plastics