R+T Asia 2016, held March 22-24 in Shanghai, set new records for exhibitor and visitor attendance and exhibitor space, attracting 27 088 visitors and 486 exhibitors. This year’s show covered 45 000 square meters and four exhibition halls of the Shanghai New International Expo Center, increasing the show’s floor space by 19,7% over 2015.

“Our continued growth is solid proof that we are growing in the right direction,” said David Zhong, President of VNU Exhibitions Asia, the show organizer. “Our success comes from our exclusively B2B format and our matchmaking and educational initiatives that attract high quality visitors and connect exhibitors with visitors.”

High quality decision-makers

The roller/shutter and sun protection industry was once again the most strongly represented visitor group, followed by the door and gate industry. The total number of visitors increased by 23,54% over 2015, with an increase of 28.98% in international visitors. 97% of visitors rated R+T Asia as “good” or “very good”, while 90% of visitors said they would recommend the show to fellow industry professionals, and 81% said that they will be back again to Shanghai in 2017.

Additionally the show’s new Hosted Buyer program helped exhibitors to find qualified buyers, accelerating the process of seizing new business opportunities. The program provided incentives that matched buyers primarily from North America, Australia, New Zealand and Belarus with exhibitors from China.

Ben Woodall, Chief Officer at BTX Intelligent Fashion, said, “I believe the show and matchmaking were very good for us. We got to spend some time meeting new contacts, and we have already followed up with some for longer discussions. Your assistance helped to facilitate the logistics of our trip and made the whole experience much more worthwhile.”

Nickolay Yukhnovets of ALUTECH Doors Systems, said, “We enjoyed the Hosted Buyer Program. We had fruitful meetings with new companies at the exhibition and with our existing partners, so we expect even more success in doing business with Chinese companies.”

Exhibitors from all over the world

In all, 486 exhibitors from 19 countries exhibited at R+T Asia 2016. Compared to 2015, the number of exhibitors increased by 11,75%. Most international companies came from Asian countries, but the show also attracted companies from other continents, especially from Europe. Exhibitor satisfaction with the quality of visitors was remarkably high, as the number of international decision-makers visiting the show increased over 2015.

Dirk Fell, Managing Director APAC at H?rmann, said, “We are happy to be at R+T. It is a good platform to present our products to the market in China and Asia in general, and we brought a lot of products for the residential sector. We had a very busy day on the first day of the exhibition, and we are happy that we could attract many old and existing customers as well as new and potential customers who are interested in our products.”

Roberto Crucitti, General Manager at Nice (Italy), said, “R+T is the place to be. There are many demands for our market, and our booth attracted many visitors from different parts of the world, such as the Philippines, America, and Europe. They require and expect to see innovations every year.”

Oliver Piccolin, Director of BMA, Asia Americas at Somfy, said, “R+T is a very impressive and important trade show in China. The reputation of Stuttgart is very impressive globally, and R+T Shanghai has a very long history. We have exhibited here for many years, and it is one of our platforms to promote our new products, to get together with our existing clients, and meet new clients.”

Focus on industry’s hot topics

According to the forecast, the size of the Smart Home market in China will expand to nearly 330 billion CNY in 2020. Smart products will be a key factor to drive future growth for China's home appliance makers, amid a market slowdown due to oversupply. The show focused on smart home technology, anticipating future scientific and technological trends for the industry. The show’s educational component, the International Window and Door Summit, featured global experts who discussed the theme of “Smart Home Brings the Future to Life” for the sun protection industry and “Global insights and technologies” for the door and gate industries. Both summits included national and international experts and professionals of the industry, including members of the ZigBee Alliance, which sets global standards for IoT (Internet of Things) products.

During R+T Asia 2016 for the first time has been launched the show’s Smart 2020 pavilion, focused on the Smart Home of the future and new global IoT standards. The pavilion displayed the latest technologies and products in home automation.

New Concurrent Show

In a parallel event to R+T Asia  - Cadex: International Architecture & Design Show for material suppliers, manufacturers, architects, designers, Real Estate professionals, building constructors, traders and end users to connect. The premier platform for connecting, learning and doing business in the design and architecture industry.

Materia Exhibition returned again

The show also featured the return of the popular Materia exhibit of global innovative materials for the Asian market. The collection was titled “Daylight Lovers,” and was displaying innovative and unique materials that excel at playing with light. This included materials that enhance light, extract energy from daylight, or temper it.

InnovAction Campaign

A key highlight of the 2016 edition of the expo, InnovaAction campaign  a pre-show, on-site, and post-show program, that helped visitors find the best products and technology at the trade fair. With the initiative also linked to a special awards program, recognizing 6 different categories. Below the list of the companies and products awarded at R+T Asia 2016.

"The Most Designer Favored Award" for Era Inn product  went to: Nice, and the same award for Tubular Door and Partition Wall System went to Marsdekor (Nanjing) Metal Products.

"Best of Best InnovAction Prize" for Tubular Door and Partition Wall System went to: H?rmann, for Tubular Door and Partition Wall System and to Somfy, for Irismo mini 35.

"The InnovAction Product of 2016" for KG 500S industrial door driver went to: Zhejiang Xianfeng Machinery and to Zhongyang Window Blinds Article for Honeycomb Fabric.

"The Person of the Year" award went both to: Yongjie Liuwang from Fujian Anlin intelligent Science And Technology Co., Ltd and Qihui Guo, from Wenzhou YiYaNuo Curtain Company Limited.

Award "The Most Promising Award of 2016" for Fan-shaped Zebra Blind went to Shandong Kingo Window Decoration.

"The Most Media Favored Brand of 2016" went both to H?rmann and Somfy.

R+T team has already started th preparation for the next esition of R+T Asia which will come back on 21st to 23rd of March 2017 with yet more international character and events.

For more information wisit our website: www.rtasia.org/en/ and subscribe our newsletter to know more about comming promotions and show's news.