Restart in China
China was the first country in the world to feel the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. After long months of lockdown, the country reopened under careful controls in the summer of 2020 and applied sophisticated hygiene concepts. And the economy has been booming ever since – supported by a reinvigorated trade fair industry.
Today the restart of the exhibition business in China is old news. The cities of the People’s Republic were already developing hygiene and safety concepts and helping the country get a handle on the pandemic while the lockdown was still in effect in the spring of 2020. By summer, BIOFACH CHINA, NATURAL EXPO CHINA, CRAFT BEER CHINA, and the PAK-iD conference were able to open as planned on their rescheduled dates.
Factors for a successful restart:
When the pandemic broke out, NürnbergMesse China relocated its operations to its employees’ home offices. Within a very short time, the team headed by Managing Director Darren Guo was ready to go and began closely coordinating with clients. That was an immense leap ahead!
Discussions with exhibitors and visitors quickly made it clear that these companies needed their on-site trade fairs in Shanghai. The staff worked with industry associations to reschedule and publish new dates for the events to ensure reliable planning. The concepts for in-person events were retained, and they surged into action as soon as the infection figures allowed.
Tracing with digital tools proved to be an effective barrier to the virus’s spread in China. Broad public acceptance of masks and distancing are also factors that helped pave the way for an early restart of the exhibition business.
The Chinese craft beer community turned out in impressive numbers for CBCE 2020.
After months of lockdown, the Craft Beer China Conference & Exhibition finally took place on its postponed date, and it outdid all expectations. Brewmasters and other experts were eager to share their experiences from the crisis and introduce their new business models.
CBCE 2020 is ‘hard-won’ and unforgettable. It is very good to be here to learn and communicate with predecessors and experts in this industry.
People pull together in a crisis – and that was abundantly evident at the Craft Beer China Conference & Exhibition when it opened after a postponement. Craft beer experts from about 120 companies had lots to talk about. After all, their sector’s biggest sales market is the restaurant business, which was amongst the industries hardest hit by the pandemic’s repercussions.
In keeping with the theme “Start of a New Craft Beer Journey,” the founders of well-known breweries discussed their strategies for dealing with the crisis and explained how new sales channels work – with rapt attention from an industry audience of around 7,000 participants. Attendance at the restart was about 70 percent of the figure from the previous fair in 2019.
CBCE is the first exhibition after the outbreak. However, for the third consecutive year we have witnessed the rapid growth of craft beer culture.
Image credits:
Header: iStock / AsiaVision