Inaugural Chengdu InfoComm China Launches in September 2018

Backed by a 12-year track record of successful shows in Beijing, InfoCommAsia Pte Ltd, China's leading organizer of trade shows for the professional audiovisual (pro-AV) and experiential communications technologies industries, is launching a second InfoComm China show in Chengdu, Western China.

Slated to run September 11 - 13, 2018, Chengdu InfoComm China will offer participating exhibitors, businesses, and manufacturers new opportunities to tap into the lucrative Western China and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) markets.

While China's pro-AV and experiential communications technologies industry is already one of the fastest-growing and dynamic worldwide, the Western China region is set to lead the expansion. Due to low production costs, a government that is supportive of information and communication technology (ICT) companies, and the rapid growth of ICT investment, Western China is predicted to produce 25 percent of China's total ICT output by 2025. This will be fueled by support from the Chinese government, which has earmarked Western China as a ICT hotspot. Business-friendly policies to encourage future development, including strategies to develop specific industries such as software, IT, electronics, and information, have been put in place at the national and domestic level.

In terms of infrastructure, Western China represents the thriving metropolis. It is already buzzing with ICT parks, high-end residential developments, and is home to a growing legion of Fortune Global 500 companies. There were 271 Fortune Global 500 companies in Chengdu in July 2016, and 262 such companies in Chongqing in December 2015.

Indeed, the Chengdu InfoComm China venue -- the Western China International Expo City -- is an expansive, modern, well-equipped facility which represents the ascent of the city as a venue for high-end global exhibitions.

In this landscape of development and government-supported expansion, businesses are well-placed to leverage the region's increasing demand for pro-AV and experiential communications technologies.

Rising in parallel alongside Western China is the anticipated explosive growth in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) markets. BRI, spearheaded by China President Xi Jinping in 2013 to create a linked community across Asia, Africa, and Europe, signals the start of a wave of economic opportunity as it will allow businesses to access an estimated US$21 trillion GDP and 4.4 billion people spread across 65 countries.

In order to create this community, major cross-country projects are in the pipeline. To fund these projects, US$140 billion has been set aside in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and Silk Road Fund for developing the energy, transportation, telecommunications, power, environment, and urban development sectors.

Concurrently, the public-private partnership (PPP) model, which was adopted for BRI projects, has already drawn over $5.4 trillion RMB worth of investments from private companies for 4,263 PPP projects.

BRI also enjoys global support. During the inaugural May 2017 Belt and Road Forum, China signed cooperation deals with 68 countries and international organizations, yielding a list of 270 deliverables in areas such as policy coordination, infrastructure building, trade, investment, and finance.

Businesses which have established a presence and networks in Western China will benefit from the first-mover advantage to participate in these projects and subsequent BRI initiatives in future.

It is projected that BRI countries will maintain a four-percent growth rate over the next 25 years. By 2026, the total GDP of BRI countries will surpass that of the UK and European Union countries, making the BRI community the second-largest economy in the world.

China's ICT exports to BRI countries are projected to rise every year, to reach a five-year total of US$1.13 trillion and a 10-year total of US$4.52 trillion. Also, BRI countries will take 40 percent of China's exports by 2030.

Said Richard Tan, executive director of InfoCommAsia and the organizer of InfoComm China, "For the first time, Chengdu InfoComm China will offer exhibitors a valuable platform to pitch their products and solutions to an expanding market of users in Western China as well as the BRI countries. These markets, which are hungry for innovations in pro-AV and experiential communications technologies, promise to be among the most dynamic and fast-growing worldwide and can drive business growth for years to come."

The Chengdu InfoComm China 2018 show runs from September 11 - 13, 2018 at the Western China International Expo City, in Chengdu, China. The Beijing InfoComm China event will continue to be staged April 11 - 13, 2018 at the China National Convention Center, Beijing.