Enjoying Your Happiness & More Business
at China Fish 2008

Suzhou, a most beautiful city in China, just witnessed one of the biggest international tackle trade fairs in the world, China Fish 2008, which proved to be a very big success. China Fish 2008 once more hit an all-time high almost in all respects including registered buyers, exhibitors, exhibition area, standard booths, as well as show events.

GOOD CONTACTS WITH OVERSEAS BUYERS AT CHINA FISH

1,934 Registered Trade Visitors from 78 Countries and Regions

China Fish 2008 was in Suzhou, and it was the first time that China Fish show had been out of Beijing. However, even to the surprise of China Fish, the number of registered trade visitors at China Fish 2008 grew at a remarkable rate of 73% from 1,118 in 2007 to 1,934 in 2008 from 78 countries and regions. It made China Fish 2008, the biggest fishing tackle show on the planet, the paradise for world fishing tackle traders, where exhibitors can get their publicity to buyers all over the world all under one roof.

Trade Visitors of China Fish 2008 by Countries & Regions

(Source: China Fish)

The top six countries by the number of buyers are the U.S.A., Japan, Australia, South Korea, China (solely foreign-owned companies, Sino-foreign joint ventures, and representative offices of overseas companies in China) and Russia.

The 10 new coming countries and regions (having not attended China Fish show over the past two years) are Cameroon, Central Africa, Croatia, Guadeloupe, Ghana, Iceland, Slovakia, Switzerland, Venezuela, and Yemen.

High Quality of Trade Visitors

Most of the trade visitors are wholesalers, retailers, and trading companies accounting for 84% of the total. Many leading companies from world tackle industry came to the show, such as Behr, Daiwa, D.A.M., Fladen, Fuji, Gamakatsu, JRC, K2-UK, Leeda, Mustad, Okuma, Owner, Penn, PLANO, Pure Fishing, Rapala VMC, Shakespeare, Shimano, Stricke Pro, Sufix, Svendsen, Ultimate, ZEBCO, etc. About 60% of trade visitors stated they came from management according to the pre-registration forms.

Trade visitors by category

(Source: China Fish)

Buyers at the booth

More Purchasing from China

According to the Pre-registration Forms, the top five most wanted products are: Lines, Rods, Reels, Hard Lures and Soft Lures. Unlike last year, China Fish 2008 divided Lures into Hard Lures and Soft Lures. Therefore, the top four products actually remained the same as China Fish 2007. The demands for Terminal Tackle rose to the seventh; hooks, sixth; bags, having been out of the top ten for three years, rise to the ninth place, while nets down to tenth.

Trade visitors to buy at China Fish

(Note: “*” including soft lures and hard lures / Source: China Fish)

Tackle Export from China (Jan.-Sept., 2007)

(Source: China Customs)

The figure shows that an increasing number of international buyers are visiting China Fish to purchase fishing tackle and outdoor products.  Meanwhile, fast increased international buyers are attracting more international exhibitors to take part in China Fish.

BUY FROM CHINA TACKLE MANUFATURERS DIRECTLY

Fast Growing Chinese Tackle Making Industry

It is no exaggeration to say that China Fish is the biggest global tackle sourcing center. China Fish 2008 saw 430 exhibitors displaying all kinds of fishing tackle, among which 86% are manufacturers, and 25% are new comers. This is based on the fact that tackle manufacturing industry is growing in an increasingly rapid way in China.

In recent years, the industry has seen substantial progress in productivity and quality upgrade. For instance, in 2006, Kingfishing Group built a new factory covering an area up to 10,000m². Many others have also extended their workshop such as Weihai Qintian Fishing Tackle Co., Ltd, Weihai Weiyu Fishing Tackle Co., Ltd, Weihai Haiyuan Fishing Tackle Co., Ltd, Rising Sun Tourist Goods Co., Ltd, Ningbo Zhongyuan (Rainbow) Fishing Gear Manufacture, Gaobeidian Lonton Tourist Goods Co., Ltd, Shantou Viva Fishing tackle Co., Ltd. and so on. ” said Mr. Li Jiang, president of China Fish.

Weihai Yuquan Fishing Tackle Co., Ltd

Weihai Haiyuan Fishing Tackle Co., Ltd

Together with the extension of the factory, the productivity of Chinese tackle makers is also growing fast. Ningbo Rainbow Fishing Gear Co., Ltd. has 1,800 employees with US$40 million annual revenue.  And most of its products export to more than 60 countries. Guangwei Group’s annual output value is over RMB1billion (about US$140 million) with 5,000 employees with a productive capacity of rods over 40 million pieces. And 90% of its products export to 65 countries.

Higher Quality Products and More Skilled Workers

Lower processing price is not the only reason why international buyers come to China; more importantly, China tackle makers can produce high quality products at the low price.

Over decades of years, Chinese fishing tackle makers have won great international reputation by high quality and prestige; in turn, right the reputation makes Chinese tackle industry’s growth and forges big tackle making groups like Weihai Guangwei Group Co., Ltd.

The high quality is guaranteed by more skilled workers and the improving management control.  Commonly, the factory offers much higher wage and preferential treatment to the highly skilled workers than the ordinary ones.

Intellectual property rights (IPR) protection

Chinese Makers’ Keen Awareness of the Intellectual Property Rights

Chinese tackle making companies pay great attention to the protection of the intellectual property rights of the foreign products, which they see as the most important thing for their survival.

Each and every tackle making company has a product showroom. But only the buyers and the partners have the easy access to the room. Foreign partners’ new products are also stored secretly; it is hard even for some higher managers of the company to have a look at the products. During the show, the exhibitors usually put their foreign partners’ products in a comparatively close room, not easy to see for common visitors.

Business Seminar about Intellectual Property Rights Protection

Mr. Liu Zhengang, Director of Beijing IPR Office

Mr. Liu Zhengang is listening to the questions from an overseas buyer.

Mr. Liu Zhengang, Director of Beijing Intellectual Property Office, delivered a speech on intensifying the protection of the IPR during the exhibitions. And he also informed that “The Measures of Beijing Municipality for the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights during Exhibitions” were adopted at the 76th executive meeting of the Government of Beijing Municipality on November 19, 2007, and shall come into force as of March 1, 2008. Director Liu’s speech well suggested that the Chinese government attaches great importance to the IPR issue, and gets aware to protect their intellectual property through legal process. And also, the speech did remove some foreign players’ worries on playing in Chinese market.

CHINA FISH Move in Protecting the Intellectual Property Rights during the Show

“From the year of 2000, the copy issue began to catch on in China tackle industry, as well as at China Fish show. For this, some exhibitors were forced to hide their products, and only show them to the real buyers. From then on, more and more international buyers came to complain that there are too many copy products in China Fish show. At the same time overseas media started to expose the infringement of IPR in China once and again.” said Mr. Li Jiang.

“As the problem was becoming serious day by day, we got aware of the significance of the issue soon. It is no good for China Fish show, if most products exhibited at the show are copy ones, then China Fish will have no future. More importantly, the entire industry in China will also come to its end if the problem can’t be duly resolved.”

During the past few years, China Fish has been always highly emphasizing the Intellectual property rights issue. Here Mr. Li has his story.

Mr. Li said: “In 2004, China Fish introduced the Best Product Showcase to encourage Chinese tackle makers to create the products by themselves, and say no to copy. From then on, the participation increased year on year. And we really see some serious creations.”

“In 2006, the Chinese government issued the Measures for the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights during Exhibitions. From China Fish 2007, we began inviting the officials and lawyers from the IPR authorities to set up on-site IPR office to deal with complaints during the show.” He continued.

“At China Fish 2008, we invited top officials and lawyers both from Beijng Intellectual Property Office and Intellectual Property Office of Jiangsu Province to the show. “ Mr. Li said. ”Mr. Liu Zhengang, director of Beijing Intellectual Property Office, delivered a seminar on how to protect the IPR. And the on-site IPR office accepted 11 complaints. Some problematic exhibits from three companies are removed off the booth.” He added.

Mr. Li also told us a “success story”.  “Before China Fish 2008 opening, Abramis, a Poland company, had contact our Beijing office several times for the infringement of their box designing artwork. We helped them contact the company in trouble right after we got the details of the issue.” He said. “During the show, we also introduced the lawyer for these two companies. After the lawyer’s mediation, the infringing company made an official apology both to Abramis and the public in local newspaper, and the Abramis decided not to go to court,” went on Mr. Li.

In the end, Mr. Li showed his determination to protect the IPR. “In the future, China Fish will continue to try our best to stop the IPR infringement both inside and outside the show. From China Fish 2009, we will employ membership program, and will check every company’s credit record and IPR performance. And we will refuse the membership application from those companies that have bad records and performance. As a result, they will have no access to the show.” He said firmly.

Best Product Awards Banquet

Since 2004, China Fish has been organizing the Best Product Showcase, attracting more and more Chinese tackle makers to show their new products at the show, and pushing them to attach due attention to the innovation and upgrading in the products. This year, 66 companies entered 443 products to the Best Product Showcase under 15 categories. And 1,081 ballots were submitted to the organizer by international buyers as well as the media, out of which 863 ballots were valid.

Best Product Showcase in the Past 5 Years

Subject	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004
Products	443	420	390	153	100
Exhibiting Companies	66	82	65	22	31
Votes from Buyers	863	602	529	368	180
Winners	15	14	12	4	3

Mr. Li Jiang, President of China Fish

Winners of China Fish 2008

The Categories and the Winners

This year, all the 15 categories found their winners well. Nets and Fly Fishing Products are two new categories; hook is not listed in the categories. The winning products are featuring innovation, practicality, as well as the flexibility. Shandong Kevlar Fishing Factory was exhibiting at China Fish for its first time. Right due to its new technology that leads the line inside of the rod without the guide, it won great interest among the buyers and so took the award under the rod category.

On the evening of Feb. 18, Suzhou International Exhibition center saw the great gathering of the fishing tackle world; over 1,000 people attended the Best Product Awards Banquet.

Share Your Knowledge, Experiences, and Opinions with Other People from the World at China Fish

For the first time, this year’s China Fish was supplemented by several seminars, covering subjects such as “Youngsters and Future of Fishing Tackle”, “European Tackle Market Protection”, “Fishing by Lures”, “Technology of Carbon Nano-Tube (CNT) in Tackle Making”, “Chinese Operate Its Own Brand” and “Chinese How to Fishing”.  The speakers includes many experts such as Mr. Rex Hunt, world famous Australian fishing legend; Mr. Louis Tchertoff, managing director of Propesca, Lda, former president of EFTTA; Mr. Marc Mills, Okuma’s Product Promotion Manager; Dr. Thibaud from French National Institute; Mr. Charles Zhang, president of Okuma Fishing Tackle and Mr. Yi Zhe, president of Hubei Old Ghost Bait Co., Ltd.

Voice from Australia: Mr. Rex Hunt

Mr. Rex Hunt made a speech at China Fish Banquet on the 18th of Feb.

“Let us all target the youngsters because they are the future and without them we don’t have a future……Do something, do something NOW.” Mr. Rex Hunt did make a loud appeal to the whole tackle word, waking people in the industry to think about the future and do something for the future. For most people of China tackle world, this is their first time to enjoy a speech of such a style, they were so touched that many of them asked Mr. Hunt for his signature and took photos with him

Voice from Europe: Mr. Louis Tchertoff

 “We need to build a powerful lobbying structure to defend our business environment as we are UNDER ATTACK!” Mr. Louis Tchertoff showed his great worries about the decline of the European market when he told about the topic at China Fish 2008.

He revealed that the European tackle market are under such attacks from commercial fishing lobby, extremist environmental groups and animal rights activists, negative legislation and new license, water pollution, over fishing, etc. Mr. Tchertoff strongly called on the entire tackle industry to unite together to find a way to finance a strong enough lobbying body to sustain the European market.

Louis pointed out that “Nearly 50% of the average spending of the European Anglers on Fishing Tackle and Bait is made on product imported from China”. So the decline of the European market will effect Chinese tackle industry greatly, maybe Chinese tackle industry should also contribute their share to protect the European market.

A manager from a Chinese tackle company put it after listening Louis speech like this, “Before, I often referred to global manufacturing, purchasing, and researching. But, till now, I really feel by myself that how tightly the markets of each and every country and region are connected all over the world.”

“We sincerely hope that China Fish will continue such activity in the future, and make it an effective communication platform for the Chinese tackle industry and the industry in the entire world. From the platform, we could learn the status quo of the other markets like the European and American markets; at the same time, players from other markets can keep up with the steps and trends of Chinese market.” The manager said.

Voice from USA: Mr. Marc Mills

Mr. Marc Mills, Okuma’s Product Promotion Manager, delivered the speeches covering several important techniques, such as fishing vertical presentation baits like worms and jigs using the popular “Drop Shot” method and “Carolina Rigging”, as well as horizontal fishing techniques using crank baits, plugs and other surface baits, utilizing different casting methods such as “Flipping”, “Pitching” and “Distance Casting”. Marc demonstrated these techniques vividly by showing the anglers how to utilize the techniques by the Jinji Lake. 

Marc’s speech was so fantastic that it had drawn lots of angling fans. The Lure fishing is springing up in China for just one or two years, some Chinese anglers have organized the club where the lure fishing techniques are utilized and they would discuss how to fish by using the lure. However, there had been none of the foreigners coming to China and instructing Chinese anglers how to use the techniques before.

In order to create a nice environment for the visitors and exhibitors, China Fish decided not to open the show to public, and the show would be identified to be Trade-Only Show. Since the tickets are required at the speech, there were not so many people listened to Marc’s speech on site, so the contents, photos and the comments of the speech on China Fish website provided by the organizer would be a great opportunity for public to enjoy his speech. 

Voice from France: Dr. Thibaud

Dr. Thibaud from French National Institute delivered his speech on the application of Carbon Nano-Tube (CNT) in tackle making. With the application of the new material in tackle making, Dr. Thibaud introduced the CNT which is revolutionary progress especially in rod making to the audience.

Nanoledge has always been focusing on the research of carbon nanotubes, which is a material that may bring another industry revolution. Composites with CNTs can improve crack propagation resistance, planar shear resistance, transverse bending and axial compression tensile strength, and shock resistance of the products remarkably. The unique “NANO IN” technology ensures that the materials can get the best properties. Carbon epoxy resin, which is manufactured by Nanoledge, is the best example.

Carbon epoxy resin can greatly improve the mechanical properties of fishing rods. The transverse bending tensile stress, axial compression tensile strength and compression resistance can be improved. The improvement of homogeneity and fatigue resistance makes all the fishing rods have the same quality and keep stable. What’s more, the shock resistance and stiffness can be improved at the same time.

The technology and the related products caught lots of overseas tackle manufacturers’ attention and interest.

Chinese Operate its Own Brand: Okuma

The president of Okuma Fishing Tackle Mr. Charles Zhang’s seminar on “Okuma Brand Development” evolved how to create and develop world renowned tackle brands. He began his speech with the process and the basic elements of building a brand. Following the differences between OEM and OBM, Mr. Zhang went through the detailed process of creating the brands. This seminar was much informative for those tackle makers who want to forge a world top brand.

Attendees of this seminar are mainly the top management of Chinese fishing tackle enterprises. They highly praised Charles for having shared his experiences and strategies in creating a brand. Having missed the seminar because of the time arrangement, some bosses even asked Charles for his presentation materials. Charles readily agreed.

At the end of the seminar, Charles said:” Today I shared the detailed process of starting my own business in return for Mr. Li Jiang and China Fish.” He said he had never forgotten the great support and help Mr. Li Jiang has given him during the time of starting his own business. He even wrote this on the presentation materials he handed out.

How Chinese Anglers Fish: Mr. Yi Zhe

Mr. Yi Zhe delivered a speech on how Chinese anglers fish and the tackle market of China.

Mr. Yi preceded his speech with the brief introduce of himself. Then he introduced 6 main fishing methods utilized by Chinese anglers in past and today. Then with the brief information of China fresh water resources and fish types as his transition, Mr. Yi began to focus on analyzing China tackle market in three aspects: geographic distribution of Chinese anglers, Chinese anglers purchasing behavior, and Chinese anglers purchasing power.  After that, he stated the statistics of the volume of the export and import of Chinese tackle in the last half year of 2007 to make comments on the export and import information of China tackle. In succession, Mr. Yi concentrated on the main four managements of Chinese tackle.  At last, Mr. Yi concluded his speech with his own advices on China tackle market.

The speech by Mr. Yi had analyzed China tackle market all-round and played a great role for the international buyers to learn about Chinese tackle industry.

Rapid Scale-Expansion of CHINA FISH and Service Problems

Over the past few years, China Fish has received considerable acclaim, especially for its service. In the questionnaire after China Fish 2007, 97% of the guests praised China Fish for the excellent service. However, some guests began to make complaints about the service even during the show in 2008.

The complaints focused on the airport shuttle bus service. “I have been on the plane for more than 10 hours, but they told me I still have to wait for two hours for the shuttle bus. That’s tough,” says a visitor. Some guests complained that they had to take taxi to the airport, because the timetable of the shuttle bus to the airport was unreasonable.

For this complain, we got in touch with China Fish. Mr. Li Jiang, President of China Fish, answered from the heart: “First of all, please allow me to apologize through media to those guests for the inconvenience caused by our shuttle bus service.”

“It is the first time that China Fish provided the airport pick-up service since its establishment 18 years before. We made the decision aiming to smoothing the travel of our guests. After all, there is still 80-120km between Suzhou and Shanghai airports. What’s worse! Most Chinese taxi drivers can not speak English. “Mr. Li Jiang continued. “Besides, considering that Suzhou has fewer taxis than Beijing does, we also arranged China Fish shuttle buses, which ran between the venue and China Fish hotels, and the total 190 departures and arrivals were provided by China Fish within 7 days.” Mr. Li Jiang added.

China Fish Airport Pick-up Team

Mr. Li Jiang continued, “For this, we especially invited a professional bus dispatcher. However, I have to say that we are lack of such experience, which caused inconvenience to our customers.” He added. We are told that China Fish Management Team even sent their own four cars to take guests who have missed the shuttle bus.

At last, Mr. Li Jiang emphasized, “However, we thank those guests who have complained about our service, because SERVICE is the life of China Fish. Like last year, we will send QUESTIONNAIRE to all guests that have been to China Fish 2008 “. “We hope to improve our service through accepting the constructive advices of our guests. Their advices are of great importance and value to our future work.” Mr. Li Jiang continued.

China Fish 2008 Memories

At your leisure time, would you memorize the Chinese silk or the Biluochun tea purchased at China Fish show? Would the dulcet rhyme of Suzhou Pintan and the delicious taste of the Suzhou food at the banquet come to you at random? Would the features of the historic Suzhou city bring back your memories? Would you review the warm feelings when you and your family saw China Fish staff at the airports following a long flight? Would the dream distinguishing which bus you should take back to the hotel still haunt you? Have you enjoyed the sugar free soft drinks sponsored by Coco Cola? Have you had a comfortable walk by the beautiful Jinji Lake? … That’s the EXPO PLUS FESTIVAL IN SUZHOU – CHINA FISH 2008.

Happy Show

CHINA FISH 2009

China Fish 2009 will be held from Feb. 15 to 17, 2009 at China International Exhibition Center (New Building) in Beijing.

The Features of the CIEC (New Building) Compared with the Old One

Compared with the previous CIEC, the CIEC new building is really a big and international standard modern expo center. The new CIEC is a top level exhibition center for all kinds of trade shows in China.  Exhibition halls and related facilities cover an area of 400,000 square meters, in which 200,000 square meters for 16 separate, single-level, column-free and spacious exhibition halls. The individual halls of new CIEC are 188 meters long and 80 meters wide; ceiling height of each hall is from 13 to 16 meters.