Global event organizer positive about China growth

By Tang Zhihao (China Daily) Updated: 2014-08-22 07:15

The company plans to launch at least three new shows to meet new demand and capitalize on opportunities for growth across new geographic regions.

The most recent movement is China Association of Bakery & Confectionery Industry's teaming up with our member company - Reed Sinopharm Exhibitions to forge a new joint venture, Bakery China Exhibitions.

The new partnership will leverage both organizations' unique competitive advantages and extensive market reach to build a more international event that delivers increased value added to the industry and its customers.

In May 2015, Reed Sinopharm will also organize the world's largest healthcare exhibition, the Health Industry Summit, in the National Exhibition and Conference Center in Shanghai.

The show is expected to attract more than 6,000 exhibitors and 150,000 traders and will be composed of three existing health industry exhibitions - the China International Medical Equipment Fair, API China and PharmChina.

As lower tier cities reported increasing demand in recent years, Reed China is also keen to tap into second-and third-tier cities to broaden its client bases.

The company has entered Wuhan in Hubei province and Chengdu in Sichuan province.

Rusbridge did not give detailed information about which other cities Reed China may enter but he stressed that the "decision will be driven by customers".

Online platform

As well as expanding in the offline business world, Reed is also eager to explore opportunities in the online business sector.

Rusbridge said he considers online business as an opportunity for Reed rather than a threat.

"I think the exhibition organizers need to balance offline and online and they have to integrate the two together," he said.

Rusbridge said he believes face-to-face communication is important but that companies should also change and develop as technology rapidly develops.

Reed has invested tens of millions of dollars in a web hosting program and hired hundreds of people to develop new functionality for the platform.

In the next five years, the company plans to increase the investment and have all exhibitions available on the platform so people can make appointments, talk to and find buyers and sellers without physically visiting exhibitions. "The platform will extend our exhibitions from a few days to 365 days," said Rusbridge.