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A successful launch!
ZOW in Shenzhen attracted 8000 trade visitors

Shenzhen is the booming city in Southern China. The launch of the ZOW supplier fair for the furniture industry and interior design took place here from 19 to 22 March 2009 – at the same time as the SIFE Shenzhen Furniture Trade Exhibition. With 8000 trade visitors and around 40 exhibiting companies, the first ZOW got off to a good start. The visitors used the opportunity to find out about the current design trends in the supplier industry and to get to know ZOW. The event was characterised by high spirits, successful business and a pleasant atmosphere, laying the foundation for further positive development of the trade fair.

“The timing and location couldn’t have been better,” said ZOW organiser Peter H. Meyer after the launch. ZOW took place during the “busy” phase of the trade fair season in Southern China, and found the perfect venue at the Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center as the partner event to SIFE. SIFE is the high-end trade fair for the Chinese furniture market and attracts high-calibre visitors to the economic hub on the Pearl River delta each year. SIFE organiser, the Shenzhen Furniture Trade Association, is constantly striving to promote quality on the Chinese furniture market and supports international investments in China with its excellent contacts worldwide.

This year’s ZOW exhibitors mainly came from China, but there was also a number of important companies from Germany, France, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Turkey. The ZOW visitor spectrum proved to be an international one. In addition to China and the neighbouring Asian countries, there was also a host of European and American visitors, who wanted to find out about the latest trends in Chinese furniture design. The SZFA maintains its own design institute in Shenzhen, which enjoys a high level of awareness, as well as various other institutions in the furniture industry.

Second ZOW in Shenzhen in March 2010

“The ZOW concept was new to the Southern Chinese market and went down well,” says Bernd Rademacher, director of Survey Asia.  At the focal point of the trade fair are the product innovations and communication between exhibitors and visitors, which is encouraged by open stands and forum areas with catering. A multitude of individual services for exhibitors and visitors make the trade fair an attractive meeting place where people like to linger. And because the first event was such a resounding success, the second ZOW is taking place from 19 to 22 March 2010, and not in September, as originally planned. “Most of the exhibitors from 2009 want to come back, and this provides a good basis on which to expand the trade fair,” explains Rademacher.     

ZOW in Shenzhen is one of seven ZOW events worldwide. With events in Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia, China and Turkey, this unique trade fair has made an international name for itself. All the ZOWs aim to offer their exhibitors and visitors that little bit extra in terms of service, communication and business – wherever the furniture industry is based in its respective country. In China this is predominantly in Guangdong.