Mixed views of Guangzhou show

The thing about shows in China is that they always look busy but this can be deceptive. The 17th International Shoe and Leather Show in Guangzhou was described by one visitor: 'The event has a real buzz to it and is clearly both a shoe and leather fair'. Another said: 'After speaking with a quite a few of the exhibitors they are saying it is on its way down now as last year there were five halls and this year there are three, very much in the same vein as APLF. Although the big chemical companies are here: BASF, Clariant, Stahl, Kemia Tau etc, but they are only the Chinese regional offices so this cannot be called an international show as it is purely for the Chinese market.' Yet another view was that it was generally disappointing and attendance was less than many had hoped. 'Most of the visitors were local Chinese. Foreign exhibitors were limited, when compared with APLF and ACLE. However, there was a comparatively decent representation from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh that drew a good deal of traffic. There were also some of the largest Taiwanese and Thai tanners exhibiting.' The event is demonstrably Chinese - from the clientele in the aisles to the names on the booths (and the many 'good luck bouquets' outside the stands - SNXON Group from Zhejiang Provence had the most and surrounded their stand and the aisle opposite). The feel is similar to the early days of Lineapelle: 'A global - local show'. There were more than twenty international pavilions with, as usual, Italy demonstrating a dominance. However, the booths on the international pavilions were modest and the number of participants in each pavilion was obviously less than at the Shanghai fair. It is interesting to note that Taiwan had a national pavilion, as did Hong Kong. The mix of stands was large - from chemical companies through leather and non-leather materials to machinery for shoe making, tanning and testing. There were also many stands selling shoe components, lasts and glues. It was clear from the manning of the stands that the target market was China; producers with a significant focus on the China market. Although much of the information was bilingual (English and Chinese), there were many catalogues, directories and magazines in Chinese only - with no translation. Many people claimed to be doing good business and differentiated this show from Shanghai (which is less business orientated and more an event to maintain connections). The global chemical brands were well represented - but with smaller floor area - and while it was claimed business was good, price competition was tough from local suppliers. There were many local companies supplying chemicals but not just on price. For example Donyon (since 1986) made significant claims for their liming systems - benefiting from area increases of 4%, and introducing fungicides that were new and environmentally safe (based on technology from the medical sector). What's new? There were many foil finishes and oily pull-up leathers which still feature strongly. There was a white 'burnishable' shoe leather from Fenice which looked interesting and some novel applications of waxes and oils to give chrome leathers a very shiny/veg look. One or two presentations focused on chrome-free - but outside the auto sector this still does not seem to be a mainstream need. When asking 'what is in fashion?' the somewhat predictable answer was 'in China, everything'.