Shanghai, China – Reed Exhibitions has signed a strategic partnership agreement with the China Foreign Trade Centre (Group), the dominant trade show organizing entity and venue manager in China.
Reed Chairman Mike Rusbridge and CFTC Chairman Wang Zhiping signed the pact on January 13 in Shanghai. “Today’s signing event is a milestone for Reed after more than three decades of rapid growth in China,” Rusbridge said at the ceremony.
Rusbridge said the new alliance was a “powerful statement of intent” that Reed and the CFTC would work closely together to boost China’s trade show industry and Reed’s presence in the booming country. The plan calls for regular meetings between the two parties as well as resource sharing and cooperation on both new exhibitions and venues.
The CFTC is a government-sponsored organization affiliated with the Ministry of Commerce. It is best known for running the venerable Canton Fair, but also has a portfolio of industry specific trade shows in China and in other parts of Asia including the China International Furniture Fair (Guangzhou), International Building & Construction Trade Fair and International Automobile Industry Exhibition.
In his address, Chairman Wang Zhiping talked about the CFTC’s expansion and modernization of two major exhibition venues, the Guangzhou International Convention and Exhibition Centre (Pazhou Complex) and the National Exhibition and Convention Centre (Shanghai Hongqiao). He predicted, “In 2015, the total exhibition area of these two venues will exceed 10 million square meters, occupying one tenth of the total exhibition area in China.”
“Reed’s commitment to China has never been stronger,” said Rusbridge, who added that Reed currently organizes more than 50 events in China. Reed will launch a major co-location in the healthcare field this May at the National Exhibition and Convention Centre, a major venue that is run by the CFTC. The three shows, CMEF API Chjina and PHARMCHINA, are organized by Reed Sinopharm.
Reach Mike Rusbridge at +44 (0)20 8271 2134 or mike.rusbridge@reedexpo.co.uk
