It is just a few weeks since the 27th Chinaplas came to an end in the South China city of Guangzhou (20-23 May) but the impressions are still lasting: when comparing with previous editions, observing the growing presence of international exhibitors and visitors has been astounding. This year, a total of 114,000 visitors attended the annual event – 30,000 were from abroad representing a 9.4% increase in the number of guests coming from beyond China's borders over last year's Chinaplas in Shanghai – see Plasteurope.com from 27.04.2012

Not only is the event the most important in Asia for the plastics and rubber industries, but it has become the world's second-largest event behind the mega trade show held every three years in Düsseldorf / Germany – "K show" – which happens to be taking place this coming October for those who have been living in a cave. Indeed, the number of Germans attending Chinaplas is the largest nationality outside of Asia.

As glowing as the reviews have been and the praise high for the May exhibition, there are still a few plastics producers who prefer the Shanghai exhibition location, where the 28th Chinaplas will be held, and thus were not showing this time around. Included in this group are major players such as Evonik and Bayer MaterialScience; instead, these companies chose other routes to promote their companies and their capabilities. Bayer took a strong role in a pre-exhibition B2B conference – see Plasteurope.com from 29.05.2013 – where the latest trends in polycarbonate automobile glazing as well as other innovative applications were showcased.

Then again, there were some interesting rookies of note: PVC producer Vinnolit, which is undertaking a strong expansion strategy with distributor Dunwa Chemicals attended the Chinaplas exhibition for the first time – see Plasteurope.com from 26.07.2012.

According to the Hong Kong-based Chinaplas organisers Adsale Exhibition Services (www.adsale.com.hk) this year's event featured 2,900 exhibitors from 38 countries and more than 3,200 machines and exhibits on display over the four days at Guangzhou's China Import & Export Fair Pazhou Complex. The figures represent a 28% jump over Shanghai in terms of items on exhibit, according to Adsale's vice general manager, Ada Leung. In addition the number of exhibitors was 20% higher over 2012 with a whopping 600 newcomers – most of them Chinese companies.

Despite the rather stormy economic situation currently prevailing in the European and Japanese markets, the Chinese market is somewhat of a 'smooth sail' for the industry right now with still great potential and many possibilities, stressed Stanley Chu, Adsale's chairman. He described the Chinese plastics production industry as one that is open for changing, wanting to transform and become more professional offering more efficient production processes and a stronger ability to compete globally in the high-end range of the market.

The local industry increasingly needs automation processes and state-of-the-art plastics processing machinery to better address the rising labour costs they are facing in China. This perspective was confirmed by German machine producers Krauss Maffei and Arburg. Both companies stated that the Chinese demand for German, high-quality technology remained healthy and robust.

Other trend highlights demanded visitor attention and were duly well received: preserving the environment and the implementation of sustainable manufacturing processes including the use of "green" materials. Both industry and consumers value the concept of plastics materials being used to build lighter and more energy-efficient products and they realise the importance of not letting resources dwindle to the point of extinction simply to meet the growing appetite to purchase coveted personal items such as automobiles and homes and the assorted accessories associated with these "big ticket" personal belongings.

The Guangzhou event offered 220,000 m² of exhibition space, which was approximately 22% more than the previous year. Chu was quite pleased with the growth of the event but he strongly emphasized that being bigger was not necessarily the primary goal of Chinaplas. In fact, the goal is to be seen on the same level as the "granddaddy" of all industry events – "K" – in terms of where the trends are measured, to be an "it" event on everyone's calendar, the place where visitors come to see the industry transforming. To achieve this level of recognition is not simply about becoming bigger, but also providing quality. "K" will always be the industry benchmark, but to mentioned in the same breath with the show in terms of its influence is what professionals like Chu aspire to achieve.

For some time, the Chinese event has been somewhat in the shadows of the German exhibition but that is all slowly changing and Chinaplas is now a partner with Messe Düsseldorf, one of the world's largest organisers of major international exhibitions for several industries including plastics.

For now, the stands have been packed away and the exhibitors have returned to their homes and back to business as usual, but for some Chinese companies and Chu, they are already looking head to Chinaplas 2014 at Shanghai's New International Expo Center 23-26 April. The new fairgrounds in Pudong offer 400,000 m² for companies to display their wares. It is the numbers which keep Chu and his crew on their toes, dreaming and worrying about how to top this year's excellent organisation.