Following last month’s successful second edition of the biennial China International Nonwovens Expo & Forum (CINE – supported by Techtextil), Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd reports that multiple nonwovens product sectors in China continue to exhibit strong growth and immense potential for the foreseeable future. Furthermore, the event brought together the country’s biggest players in the expo and forum. In total, 100 exhibitors showcased their products in the expo, while 3977 trade buyers from 16 countries and regions attended the three-day event.

Speaking as CINE concluded, Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd’s senior general manager Wendy Wen commented: “We can’t emphasize enough to the global industry the immense opportunities in the Chinese nonwovens sector, especially for overseas companies with their relative advantages in product quality and innovation. The feedback from multiple participants here this week continues to show that strong potential still exists in the market, and that this potential comes from multiple aspects – government initiatives, increases in urbanisation, changing consumer lifestyles and more – ensuring the sustainability of this growth for what we believe will be many years to come.”

While there are multiple sectors within China’s nonwovens market experiencing strong growth, three in particular stand out as real achievers: hygiene, medical and filtration. Beijing ORIT, an exhibitor in CINE’s expo, explained one of the reasons why. “The hygiene, medical and filtration industries have been strongly supported by central government policies in recent years,” sales manager Lixia Hu says. “Our company is very confident that these sectors will continue to develop strongly in the future.” 

Filter bag specialists Jiangsu FMS R&D Materials explained how new emission standards were attracting heavy-industry buyers to CINE. “Our filter bags are targeted towards dust processing which is a promising industry sector. Nowadays, national pollution standards are much higher in order to protect the environment. Thus, many big iron plants, coal power plants and cement mills are here to cooperate with us to achieve these emission standards,” explains Shuping Liu, chairman of the company.

Both government policies and rising living standards are having positive impacts on the industry in other sectors as well. “With the two-child policy starting to take effect in China, the sales of nonwovens for maternity and infant products are increasing quickly,” says Benson Yan, a representative from Foshan Nanhai Beautiful Nonwoven, one of the country’s largest producers. “Our customers’ quality requirements for functional nonwovens are getting higher as well,” he continued. 

While these exhibitors were bullish about the industry’s prospects, many others highlighted the effectiveness of the expo as a business platform. The quality of the buyers in attendance was one of the biggest talking points. “We welcomed a wide range of clients from the agriculture, hygiene and medical sectors to our booth; they were all genuine industry players with clear sourcing targets,” explains Menghua Zhu, head of R&D, U.S. Pacific Nonwovens Industry. 

In addition to the quality of buyers, Qingdao Textile Machinery also appreciated the strong buyer flow. “Many buyers came to our booth searching for spunlace and needlepunch nonwovens machines,” says Song Lei, project manager. “Two of our frequent buyers we’ve negotiated with for a long time placed orders here. We feel satisfied with the show as all the buyers and exhibitors had a strong connection with our business.”

The 6th China International Nonwovens Conference was held alongside CINE as part of the forum section, adding to the stature as well as the business opportunities of the expo portion of CINE. “The speakers at the conference are of high quality, and shared up-to-the-minute industry insights. I also visited the expo as well, and the two events together mean I can discover the latest trends and market developments in a quick and easy manner,” says Shengchun Tian, chief engineer of Xinjiang Shengtai Textile.

The China International Nonwovens Expo & Forum (CINE – supported by Techtextil) was organized by the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT; the China Nonwovens & Industrial Textiles Association (CNITA); the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA); and Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd. The next CINE will take place in 2019, while Cinte Techtextil China will be held in Shanghai in October 2018.