Background
The 30th East China Fair (ECF), originally scheduled for March 2020 in Shanghai, was postponed due to COVID-19. On February 1, the ECF Council Office announced the delay. The organizers later decided to move the fair online, holding it as a "cloud exhibition" from June 1-5 to help foreign trade enterprises connect with buyers and discover new opportunities during this special period.
Key Information
This online ECF is co-hosted by the commerce departments of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Shandong, Nanjing, and Ningbo, and organized by Shanghai Donghao Lansheng Group. The online platform (www.ecf.org.cn) supports Chinese, English, Japanese, and Korean, with the "Export-to-Domestic" section in Chinese. Features include online display, supply-demand matching, search, networking, contract signing, and customer service, leveraging various new technologies to create a comprehensive cloud exhibition.
Four buyer-seller matchmaking sessions will be held: June 1, 13:00-16:00 (Japan & South Korea buyers); June 2, 18:00-21:00 (Europe & US buyers); June 3, 13:00-16:00 (Belt and Road buyers); June 4, 13:00-16:00 (Epidemic prevention supplies). Three special zones will also be available: Epidemic Prevention Supplies, Export-to-Domestic, and Cross-border E-commerce, helping exhibitors connect with overseas buyers, clear inventory, and expand sales channels.
Related Services
Towin Expo, as a professional exhibition design and construction service provider, has long followed the digital transformation trend of exhibitions. For online exhibition scenarios, Towin offers virtual booth design, 3D booth modeling, and online brand display solutions to help exhibitors maintain a professional brand image in virtual fairs. Meanwhile, Towin has extensive experience in physical booth construction, showroom design, and on-site delivery, providing comprehensive support for integrated online-offline exhibition models.
Industry Insights
The shift of ECF from offline to online is an innovative exploration driven by the pandemic. Known as a barometer of China's foreign trade, the first ECF covered only 21,000 sqm, while the 29th edition expanded to 126,500 sqm; booths grew from 1,900 to 5,868; exhibitors increased from 600 to 4,000. This online edition not only addresses urgent needs of foreign trade enterprises but also offers new ideas for future exhibition models. Online exhibitions break geographical barriers and reduce costs, but also demand higher content presentation and interaction capabilities from exhibitors.
Summary
The 30th ECF, moved online due to the pandemic, will be held from June 1-5 on www.ecf.org.cn, featuring multilingual support, online networking, contract signing, and multiple matchmaking sessions and zones. This innovation continues ECF's traditional value while embracing digital trends, opening new business channels for foreign trade enterprises. Towin Expo will keep monitoring the evolution of exhibition models and provide clients with exhibition design and construction services adapted to integrated online-offline trends.