Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics show, Spring Edition 2019 will be held at the national exhibition centre in Shanghai on March 12 to 14.

China’s largest textile sourcing event, held in parallel with the Chic Shanghai show, is set to showcase over 3,300 exhibitors from 20 countries, expecting a turnover of 80,000 industry visitors.

The show, organised jointly by Messe Frankfurt and the Chinese Textile Chamber of Commerce (CCPIT-Tex), will welcome 2,700 local exhibitors alongside over 500 specialists from outside China. A dedicated section will represent European manufacturers, with companies from Austria, France, Germany, Italy (in the ‘Milano Unica’ pavilion) the Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey and the UK. An Asia section will be also dedicated to Korea, Japan, Taiwan, India and Pakistan.

Held in six of the extraordinary exhibition centre’s halls, the previous spring edition of Intertextile Shanghai, in March 2018, attracted 84,314 visitors from 104 countries. It recorded a massive 15% increase in attendance, hand in hand with a rise in the number of exhibitors to 3,386. Meanwhile the Chinese textile/apparel market is in full bloom, as the country overtakes the USA as the world’s largest apparel market. Last year, the Chinese market was worth $373 billion, as opposed to $355 billion in the USA, until now at the head of the race.

Among the show’s special sections stand out the ‘Premium Wool Zone’, the ‘Accessories Vision’ section showcasing over 450 specialist suppliers for components such as buttons, zips, labels and more, and the ‘Verve for Design’ section, presenting elements of textile design from all over the world.

Intertextile Shangai will also feature a ‘Functional Lab’ section, dedicated hub where 280 manufacturers will present high-tech products with functionalities ranging from heat resistance to breathability. The ‘Beyond Denim’ section will include 110 denim specialists from China, Pakistan, Turkey, Vietnam and other countries.

The main attraction, however, will be the ‘All About Sustainability’ section. Feature suppliers of eco-responsible materials, of sustainability testing and verification services, it will stage a number of conferences on the topic sustainability during the whole duration of the show.