Event Background
The 30th China East China Import and Export Fair (East China Fair) was originally scheduled to be held in Shanghai in March 2020, but due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the offline exhibition could not be held as planned. On February 1, the Council Office of the East China Fair issued a notice announcing the postponement of the exhibition. Subsequently, the organizers decided to move the exhibition online, holding it as a "cloud exhibition" from June 1-5 to help foreign trade enterprises connect with buyers and discover new business opportunities during this special period.
Key Information
The online edition of this year's East China Fair is jointly hosted by the commerce departments of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Shandong, Nanjing, Ningbo, and other provinces and cities, and organized by Shanghai Donghao Lansheng Group. The online platform URL is www.ecf.org.cn, offering four language versions: Chinese, English, Japanese, and Korean, with the "Export-to-Domestic-Sales Zone" using Chinese. Platform functions include online display, supply-demand matching, online search, online matchmaking, online signing, and online customer service, creating a comprehensive "cloud exhibition" through various new technological means.
The online exhibition will hold four buyer-seller matchmaking sessions: June 1, 13:00-16:00, Japan and South Korea Buyers Session; June 2, 18:00-21:00, Europe and America Buyers Session; June 3, 13:00-16:00, Belt and Road Buyers Session; June 4, 13:00-16:00, Anti-Epidemic Supplies Session. In addition, there are three special zones: the Anti-Epidemic Supplies Zone, the Export-to-Domestic-Sales Zone, and the Cross-Border E-Commerce Zone, helping exhibitors connect with overseas buyers, clear inventory, and expand sales channels.
Related Services
As a professional exhibition design and construction service provider, Towin Expo has long followed the trend of digital transformation in the exhibition industry. In online exhibition scenarios, Towin can provide digital services such as virtual booth design, 3D booth modeling, and online brand display solutions, helping exhibitors maintain a professional presentation of their brand image in online exhibitions. At the same time, Towin has extensive experience in physical booth construction, exhibition hall space design, and on-site exhibition delivery, and can provide comprehensive support for exhibition models that integrate online and offline.
Industry Observation
The East China Fair's shift from offline to online is an innovative exploration of the exhibition industry brought about by the pandemic. The East China Fair has long been known as a "weather vane" for China's foreign trade. The first edition covered only 21,000 square meters, while the 29th edition grew to 126,500 square meters; the number of booths grew from 1,900 to 5,868; and the number of participating enterprises increased from 600 to 4,000. This online exhibition not only addresses the urgent needs of foreign trade enterprises but also provides new ideas for future exhibition models. Online exhibitions break geographical restrictions and reduce participation costs, but at the same time they place higher demands on exhibitors' content presentation and interactive capabilities.
Summary
The 30th East China Fair has been moved online due to the pandemic and is scheduled for June 1-5 on the www.ecf.org.cn platform, offering multilingual support, online matchmaking, signing, and other functions, along with multiple buyer-seller matchmaking sessions and special zones. This innovative measure both continues the traditional value of the East China Fair and follows the digital trend, opening new business opportunity channels for foreign trade enterprises. Towin Expo will continue to follow the evolution of exhibition models and provide clients with exhibition design and construction services adapted to the trend of online-offline integration.