Big Metalworking Trade Fair Set for Southeastern China in October 2006

The seventh edition of the metalworking industry’s leading trade fair for southeastern China, Metal Working China 2006 (MWC), will offer suppliers from around the world a dynamic international market showcase when it is held in Shanghai October 10–13, 2006. MWC focuses on machine tools, sheet metal–working machines, wire-working machines, pipe-machining equipment, metal-forming machines, precision tools, and tool and mould making.

MWC is the only trade fair in the southeastern Chinese economic zone to cover the whole spectrum of metalworking and related processing. Many world-famous companies have used the fair as a platform for growth. A record 500 exhibitors are anticipated in 2006 (compared with 377 in 2004), filling around 35,000 m² of floor space. Some 50,000 visitors attended in 2004.

National pavilions for Europe, Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, France, South Korea, the USA, China, and Taiwan will offer smaller companies access to the promising Chinese market. China, the world’s sixth economy and third-leading trading nation, is now the largest market for machine tools.

Leading industry associations on the consumer side are supporting MWC, including the China Automotive Industry Association, China Aviation Industry Corp., and China National Machinery & Equipment Corp. Major national machine tool associations taking part include the German Machine Tool Builders’ Association (VDW), the Association of Spanish Machine Tool Factories (AFM), the Swiss Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Industries (Swissmem), and the Korea Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association (KOMMA).

MWC is organized by Hannover Messe International GmbH, Hannover Fairs China Ltd., Shanghai, and China National Machine Tool Corp. The venue for this exhibition, as well as for four simultaneous trade fairs whose topics tie into the capital goods focus of MWC, is the state-of-the-art Shanghai New International Expo Centre in Pudong, which was inaugurated in 2001 as a pioneering joint venue for the Hannover, Düsseldorf, and München trade fair companies and their Chinese partners.

A supporting programme highlighting key developments and market trends in the sector while addressing practical issues will feature the Metal Working Summit, company presentations, forums, and plant visits.

“Nowadays, no export-oriented machine tool producer can afford not to be a player on the Chinese market,” commented Wolfgang Lenarz, CEO of Hannover Messe International GmbH.