CHINAPLAS 2020 empowers plastics & rubber industries for new opportunities

Nov 08, 2019

Economic and political uncertainty remains a top challenge for today's global manufacturing industry. A host of factors including trade friction, economic slowdown, and weakening demand from China are dampening manufacturing growth and leaving some sectors in a decline. In the meantime, China is pushing to transform its manufacturing industry to focus on higher quality and domestic market while encouraging foreign investment.

During this economic downturn, leading companies are ready to pave the road for transition and transformation in order to convert challenges to opportunities. As a key industry indicator, the global leading tradeshow CHINAPLAS 2020 will zero in on market trends and buyer needs, provide a high-tech, high-quality and high-value platform of technology innovations, and help companies uncover new opportunities and grow in an ever-changing economic environment.

Foster growth in a decline

Explore new directions amidst automotive market slowdown

The global auto industry is cooling down, as 2018 broke a 7-consecutive-year expansion. Global auto sales shrank to 95.6 million vehicles in 2018 caused by declines in Europe and China in the second half of the year. As the 28-year-long streak of brisk growth in the Chinese auto market came to an end in 2018, industry players are facing unprecedented pressure.

With the market slowdown, auto companies are determined to seek changes and transform. On the front of environmental protection and sustainable development, new energy vehicles and auto lightweighting demonstrate strong potential. Driven by intelligent driving and Internet of Things, the auto industry is undergoing unprecedented changes. Manufacturers have an urgent demand for new materials, new equipment, advanced processing technologies, automation, and AI. Cost reduction and efficiency improvement are the go-to strategies for both OEMs and suppliers. Aside from the commonly seen structural optimization, process and production efficiency improvement through technological innovation can provide viable solutions as well.

Leverage 5G large-scale commercialization

Nations around the world are accelerating their informationization as a strategic development priority. China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued its first 5G commercial licenses on June 6, 2019, drawing great attention. As the core infrastructure for the deployment of big data, AI, virtual reality and other technologies, the scale-up of 5G will form a powerful driving force. Due to its exceptionally high speed, large capacity and minimal delay, 5G demands higher quality materials from the base station end to the application end. In addition to 5G, development trends such as the Internet of Things, autopilot vehicles, telemedicine, smart factory, and smart city will also trigger disruptive changes and create infinite space for innovative materials and processes.

Embrace Circular Economy

Under the pressure of environmental protection, how to properly dispose of and reuse plastics has been a question in the spotlight. Multiple cities in China are implementing waste sorting. The European Union, Sweden, Canada, Peru, and other countries and regions have proposed plans to ban single-use plastic products. China escalated its waste ban to prohibit the import of all industrial waste plastics at the end of 2018, following the ban of imported consumer waste plastics at the end of 2017. India, Thailand, Malaysia, and other countries are also following the suit to ban imported solid plastic waste. To address these issues, plastics manufacturers need to continue to promote reuse and recycling, plan out full product lifecycle to include recycling in advance, and provide environmentally friendly and recyclable innovative solutions such as biodegradable plastics.

Strengthen independent innovation

The emergence of unilateralism, trade protectionism, and anti-globalization trends and the escalation of related actions have also adversely impacted the global economy and the plastics and rubber industries. The key to transformation lies in innovation. Companies can benefit from leveraging technological innovation, enhancing independent innovative capability, increasing product value and market competitiveness, adjusting strategy and deployment, and actively exploring domestic market and emerging markets, thereby strengthening their risk resistance capacity.

Join hands in the new journey

The grim economic environment is forcing companies to accelerate their transformation. CHINAPLAS 2020 will continue to stress on technological innovation, with the focuses on "smart manufacturing, innovative materials, green & circular economy", tackle the pain points of the industries, help increase their competitiveness, and seek breakthroughs in the difficult situation.

Ada Leung, General Manager of Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd., the show organizer of CHINAPLAS, remarks, "The current market environment is full of challenges, but it is also a great time for strong companies to rise against the trend. CHINAPLAS 2020 continues to show strong booth bookings as seen in previous years, indicating the confidence of plastics and rubber suppliers in creating endless innovation and achieving success in the future. In the past 30 years, CHINAPLAS has closely followed the pulse of China's economic development, witnessed the growth of the plastics and rubber industries, experienced the 1998 Asian financial crisis and the 2008 global financial tsunami, and continuously produce success stories. As always, we quickly adapt to the changes in internal and external environment; adapt to the trends of technological revolution, industrial transformation, consumption upgrading, etc.; strengthen the long-term collaboration with global plastics and rubber manufacturers, downstream users and industry associations; turn first-hand intelligence into latest market demand; and cooperate with upstream and downstream companies to make progress together."

2018 marked the first CHINAPLAS exhibition in Hongqiao, Shanghai, and the show was a great success. CHINAPLAS is scheduled to return to the National Exhibition and Convention Center, in Hongqiao, Shanghai, PR China on April 21-24, 2020. This iconic industry event is expected to present 340,000 square meters of exhibition space, bring together 3,900+ global exhibitors and 180,000+ visitors, to join hands to overcome the challenges, and together create a prosperous future.

For more information about CHINAPLAS 2020, please visit the official show website at www.ChinaplasOnline.com.