A new date has been set for Asia’s largest plastics trade fair “Chinaplas” (www.chinaplasonline.com). This year’s event, which was originally planned for April but postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak (see Plasteurope.com of 05.02.2020), will now run from 3-6 August 2020 in Shanghai. “We believe that once the outbreak is controlled, all suppressed market demand will be released,” says Ada Leung, general manager of organiser Adsale (Hong Kong / China; www.adsale.com.hk). “The postponement of Chinaplas to August in Shanghai will help the upstream and downstream industries to seize business opportunities during market rebound period.”

Many companies put a halt on operations due to the outbreak, and some are now resuming work, says Leung. “In this epidemic, plastics and rubber have been used as important raw materials for prevention supplies such as medical protective clothes, medical masks, goggles, gloves, medical equipment, pharmaceutical packaging and disinfection supplies.” She adds that the plastics industry has also offered monetary and material aid to help combat the coronavirus.

Considering the latest events, Chinaplas 2020 will focus in particular on medical technology as well as protective and antibacterial materials. Automation, digitalisation, recycling and circular economy will also be central topics.

Over 3,800 exhibitors had registered before the trade fair was postponed. In 2019, Chinaplas hosted more than 163,000 visitors in Guangzhou, Guangdong. Shanghai, which has an area of 340,000 m² at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (NECC), usually attracts more visitors – over 180,000 in 2018 (see Plasteurope.com of 14.05.2018). Adsale is not offering estimates or expectations of attendance at this time.

Next year’s Chinaplas will be moved to Shenzhen, Guangdong, since the 250,000 m² exhibition grounds in Guangzhou have become too constraining for the size of the trade fair (see Plasteurope.com of 28.01.2020). The event is set to take place from 13-16 April 2021.

A group of experts in the Chinese government expects the coronavirus outbreak to stabilise in April, with the number of victims increasing until then. Almost 73,000 people in China are currently infected, and more than 1,800 have died, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).