The three-day exhibition featured 150 exhibitors and more than 5,800 visitors from 30 Chinese provinces and 86 countries.

CITExpo, for which Tire Review, Tyres & Accessories and Rubber Asia were media sponsors, included seminars, meetings and products exhibits of tires, wheels, tire accessories, tire maintenance equipments, retread materials and equipments, tire production materials and equipments and more.

Event organizers said both the number of exhibitors and the exhibition floor space doubled from the previous event in 2004. First time exhibitors included such brands as GITI, Marangoni, GE-Toshiba, Linglong, Shengshan, Federal, SICAM, Hofmann, which made the show more internationalized. According to observers, most of the exhibitors and visitors were satisfied with the show.

Already, some 60% of 2005 CITExpo exhibitors have booked space for the 2006 edition of the event, organizers said, and they expect the event to double in size once again. The 2005 CITExpo moved to the larger Shanghai Everbright Convention and Exhibition Center, and took up some 6,000 square meters of floor space.

China has become one of the top-ranked countries in terms of tire production and consumption. With its low labor cost and the quality products to fulfill the demand of various countries, it has also become one of the top tire exporters. In just the first half of 2005, there were more than 1.4 billion tires produced in China, officials said.

The growing domestic tire market in China has attracted Michelin, Bridgestone, Cooper, Goodyear, Kumho, Hankook, Yokohama and others. According to the 2004 list of China’s Top 75 Tire Companies by Sales Volume, 23 of them are Chinese makers, eight were U.S. makers and five were Japanese producers.

Wilko Fong, managing director of CITExpo organizer Reliable, said, “No one can ignore the tire market in China now and the professionals’ of the world market surely need a trade show like CITExpo in China. CITExpo is a relatively young show with its three editions, but has gradually become one of the events of the tire industry that every player does not want to miss. Our aim is to grow CITExpo to become the annual ‘must event’ for them.”

Even prior to the opening of CITExpo 2005, the organizers announced the dates for the 2006 event – Sept. 6-8, at the same venue. In addition, the Automotive Testing Expo will be brought to China and will be held concurrently with CITExpo 2006. The synergy of the two events being held concurrently will effectively attract more decision makers, engineers, and parts buyers of the carmakers from all around China.