DOMOTEX asia/CHINAFLOOR , opened its doors during July 26 to 28 at the Shanghai National Exhibition and Convention Centre (NECC), welcoming attendees from all over the world and giving the international flooring community a chance to meet again in world’s second largest market, after the 3-year halt due to closed borders. More than 1600 companies and brands from over 30 different countries exhibited, both traditional and innovative flooring products, in an extended gross area of 200,000sqm spread throughout 7 halls. The total number of visitors beat any prediction and reached 83,594, the highest since show’s birth. The attendance from overseas visitors reached 95% of the already record edition in 2019. More than 14,000 international visitors came from over 110 countries. The high presence of the international participants, both as exhibitors and visitors, reconfirmed that China remains an important hub for the international trade in the flooring industry and the confidence in the region has returned.

DOMOTEX asia/CHINAFLOOR 2023 took place, as in the past, in co-location with R+T Asia - the leading trade fair for the sun shading and door/gate industry in the APAC region, cadex - the international event for connecting, learning and doing business in the design and architecture industry - and others, under the roof of Build Asia Mega Show - a vibrant ecosystem representing the diverse facets of the construction, building materials and interior design industries, in a platform which fosters the cross-industry communication and multi-channel integration.

Exhibitors conclude a successful Edition

“I was thrilled to see the show this year returning to its pre-pandemic level of internationalization. It really exceeded any expectation.” – said Thomas Baert, co-founder and co-organizer of the event as well as President of CFL Flooring, a participating exhibitor. “From an exhibitor point of view, our participation was very successful. We met most of our old customers and made some important new contacts as well. This platform continues to be a global market place which does not represent China only, but the entire Asian market and beyond. Despite of the difficulties and challenges, flooring professionals, from all over the world, decided to come to the show, proving once again that this is a hub which allows them to do great business in Asia’s major flooring markets.” – concluded Baert.

The success of this year’s edition was clearly reflected in the applications for booking a stand at the next year’s edition. Leading companies such as Classen, Daejin, Eletile (HMTX), KDF, Lamett / CFL Flooring, LX Hausys, Unilin, Azumi, Bona, Homag (Hard flooring & Floor Tech), Bulckaert, Haima, Oriental Weavers, Paulig, Standard Carpet (Carpet), Groz-Beckert, Owens Corning, Staubli, Trutzschler, Zimmer (Carpet Tech), have already confirmed their participation at DOMOTEX asia/CHINAFLOOR 2024.

The impressive Return of the international Buyers

The thousands of international buyers who filled the hallways during the event, were the main highlight of this year’s edition. Despite of difficulties in traveling into the country, mainly due to long visa application times, the international community showed an impressive loyalty and trust to the show. The organizers hosted various buyer delegations for each main sector segment, which allowed participants to engage in different activities, such as personalized guided tours, one to one matchmaking and networking events. More specifically, 7 delegations of over 100 international buyers coming from 30 different countries, engaged in tailored matchmaking activities with over 200 exhibitors.

The international participants appreciated the efforts made by the organizers to assist their travel, create a foreign friendly environment during the show, provide several types of hospitality services and show them a sincere and heartfelt welcome to China after these years.

High Participation at the concurrent Events

The various forums, seminars and training sessions which took place at the show, saw a high participation and increased interest from the audience in listening to what experts in the various fields had to say regarding industry’s future trends and developments. In particular:

Cadex - an innovative platform for architects and designers, organized in partnership with J&G MEDIA - invited 14 well-known designers from 7 countries, which exchanged with an audience of over 400 delegates their know-how and opinions in a full day event. Through case studies, they conducted in-depth discussions on the aspects of design, architecture, office, exhibition hall, community, health, and human settlements, and discussed how architecture and interior design can respond to the changing needs of the environment, economy, and societies in a sustainable manner.

Multi-dimensional Interior Space Design Integration Forum – made its debut as a high-level industry forum, aiming to integrate the industry chains of flooring, walls, ceilings, doors and cabinets. The event took place the day before the show opening and saw the participation of 120 delegates, targeted discussions during 5 round tables and sharing of 11 different market researches and trend reports.

DOMOTEX asia/CHINAFLOOR 2024, scheduled to take place from May 26 to 28, 2024, is set to host an even larger scale event.