According to the data released in recent days by the organizer Adsale, Chinaplas 2019 closed its highly successful, four-day run in Guangzhou on May 24. The annual show - held this year at the China Import & Export Fair Complex, Pazhou, in southeastern China - attracted 3,622 exhibitors and 163,314 professional visitors from all over the world. More than a quarter of attendees (42,005) were overseas visitors from over 150 countries and regions. The top 15 countries, in terms of visitors, were: Brazil, Japan, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, The Philippines, Turkey, Vietnam and the United States.

Currently, the world’s economic growth, including international trade, has been slowing down. The escalation of the Sino-US trade dispute, coupled with deterioration in trading conditions, has severely impacted global supply chains.

Consequently, Chinese and foreign companies have been exercising increased caution in investments. This combination of complicated factors - the likes of which have not been seen for many years - has served to depress growth in some key industries.

"Under the gloom of such a downturn, there was a gap between the number of visitors to Chinaplas 2019 and our previously set goal; we achieved a 5.19% increase compared to the last Guangzhou edition of show two years ago" said Ada Leung, General Manager of show organizer Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd.

“Exhibitors from all over the world comprehensively showcased a diverse range of cutting-edge innovation and technology. The halls were crowded with visitors. Many exhibitors have signed new contracts with customers at the show. Generally speaking, participants were very satisfied with the results of joining the show” Leung added.

Technology is rapidly changing the world, and companies both upstream and downstream are tirelessly pursuing innovation.

At Chinaplas 2019, plastics and rubber industries from all over the world came to display their latest wares. Exhibitors made more than 180 global or Asian launches of hot, new technologies.

The exhibition halls exuded an aura of innovation.

Just a handful of the highlights included: high/low-dielectric constant modified plastics and other high-performance materials for future 5G communication; lightweight materials designed to enhance new energy vehicles and future travel solutions; along with fiber-reinforced composite materials, graphene-based electrically conductive plastics, high-performance thermoplastic elastomers, additives to reduce unwanted VOC emissions and to change both the color and brightness of final products, plus liquid silicone and other high-tech materials.

Plastics, meanwhile, owing to their versatility, continue to increasingly penetrate into many downstream application industries such as electrical and electronics, automotive, packaging, building materials, medical, sports, and leisure.

In the fair’s machinery exhibition area, digital smart manufacturing solutions showcased the implementation of various intelligent manufacturing options, while exhibitors also introduced a large number of high-performance, high-precision advanced equipment and a wealth of advanced molding processes.

Visitors also got to see cost-effective, high-quality, small-batch, diversified production processes, in-mold decorating techniques, as well as polyurethane (PU) in-mold coating and flexible manufacturing technologies, multilayer injection molding and co-extrusion technologies, and automated all-in-one machines, among other high-end sophisticated technologies.

“Going green” is now a core plank in the mission of most companies. The unstoppable trend of the circular economy was apparent at the show, as an abundance of high-performance, environmentally friendly and recyclable solutions were on display.

The theme zones that focused on the circular economy - namely, the "Recycled Plastics Zone", the "Recycling Technology Zone" and the "Bioplastics Zone" - proved hugely popular with visitors.

Concurrent events were plentiful as well. "Industry 4.0 Factory of the Future", "Tech Talk", "Design x Innovation", "Medical Plastics Connect", and the "Plastics Recycling & Circular Economy Conference and Showcase" all drew large crowds and featured a vigorous exchange of ideas while nourishing collaboration between various sectors.