New Shanghai show looks to draw 50,000 visitors
By Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, September 10, 2007
Shanghai, China — The developer of a new furniture trade show here is releasing new details about the event, set to debut this week.
The show, organized by Chinese store owner and real estate developer Zou Wenlong, is called the 2007 Shanghai International Furniture Fair.
It will be held Sept. 13–18 at the 2 million-square-foot Jisheng Wellborn Global Home Furnishings Center here, near the Hongqiao International Airport.
Zou said 90% of the space is leased. The show will feature 500 exhibitors, 90% of them Chinese furniture manufacturers. Some will be from Asia, Europe and the United States.
According to the show's Web site at www.jswb.com, exhibitors will include such well-known Chinese companies as Hangzhou Monarchy Furnishings, Kinwai Furniture & Decoration Co., Stylution International, Xilinmen Group and Shanghai FD (Fairmont Designs) Enterprise Co.
To draw U.S. buyers, Jisheng Wellborn has placed ads in trade publications, sent out invitations and encouraged its exhibitors to promote the show.
The show is expected to draw some 50,000 visitors, some of whom also will be in town for the 13th China International Furniture Expo.
The China International show is set for Sept. 12–15 and will feature 1,600 exhibitors in some 2.5 million square feet of exhibit space in three venues, including the Shanghai New International Expo Center, the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum and the Pudong Expo Centre. Its Web site (www.furniture-china.cn) says it expects to draw 70,000 visitors.
Zou said a bus will transport visitors between the Pudong venue, the Jisheng Wellborn site and the airport.
He said he plans to expand his venue to more than 8 million square feet by 2010. While the annual September trade show will be the main draw, Zou said the facility also will be open to the public at other times as a retail venue for China's top furniture brands.
"In the near future, JSWB Global Home furnishings Center will become a platform through which Chinese furniture manufacturers and furniture industry practitioners are able to show their strength by themselves," Zou said.
