UFI Open Seminar in Asia held in China for first time

News this week: The 2012 UFI Open Seminar in Asia was held on Thursday and Friday this week. More than 230 delegates from over 20 countries and territories travelled to southern China for the two day seminar. The theme of this year’s event was “Asian Exhibitions in the Year of the Dragon.” The seminar was held at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Centre and it was hosted by the Shenzhen Trade, Economic & Information Commission.

The exhibition industry in Asia has continued to grow year after year – even throughout the global financial crisis. In Shenzhen, speakers from leading exhibition organisers, venue and government bodies from across Asia and Europe came together to discuss the outlook of the exhibition industry in Asia as well as to examine the issues and challenges facing the exhibitions in Asia.

Mark Cochrane, UFI Asia/Pacific Regional Manager, commented, “The continued growth of exhibitions in Asia has caught the attention of much of the exhibition industry worldwide. Key players from around the world are looking to Asia for new opportunities and we tried to address that interest head on at this year’s seminar.”

Paul Woodward, UFI’s Managing Director, stated, “UFI’s presence in Asia has now grown to more than 175 members across the region and the success of the UFI Open Seminar in Asia also reflects that growth. Since its launch in Hong Kong in 2006, the UFI Open Seminar in Asia has gone from strength to strength. So we are particularly pleased that in the Year of the Dragon, the seminar is being held in China – Asia’s largest exhibition market by any measure.”

Source: UFI press release

This post is excerpted from BSG's weekly e-newsletter which is part of our subscription research service, BSG Tracker. Visit our website to find out more about this service. You can also follow us on Twitter for all the latest updates.

Alibaba.com up 15% in revenue in 2011

News this week: Hong Kong-listed Alibaba.com released its 2011 financial results earlier this week. Revenues in the year increased 15% reaching US$1.02 billion. The company’s International Marketplace generated 58% of total revenues (US$596 million), up 16%; while its China Marketplace contributed another 35% (US$352 million) and grew 17%. Profit attributable to company grew 17% to US$272 million. Diluted earnings per share were RMB 0.338 (US$0.0537) in 2011.

The Hangzhou-based company also increased its number of registered users – rising by 24% to more than 76 million. This figure includes users on both its China and International Marketplaces. The International Marketplace accounts for just over 25.5 million of the total registered users. However, paying users dropped from more than 809,000 in 2010 to about 765,000 in 2011 – a 5.4% decrease. China Gold Suppliers (paid users on its International Marketplace) dropped 18% from 121,000 in 2010 to 99,000 last year. Paid members on the China Marketplace dropped 2.8% from 678,000 to 659,000.

The company claimed the decrease in the number of paying member to the strategy to improve the quality of suppliers on the platforms. The number of fraud complaints lodged against paying members in December 2011 was down approximately 70% compared with December 2010. Also, the increased user base contributed to increasing user traffic and buyer activities. In December, overseas daily average traffic in terms of unique visitors saw year-on-year growth of 58%.

On the same day, the Alibaba Group proposed privatization of Alibaba.com. The group proposal offers minority shareholders HK$13.50 per share, which was a premium of 60% over the 60-average closing price of Alibaba.com shares before 21^st February. The share closed at HK$13.20 yesterday.

This post is excerpted from BSG's weekly e-newsletter which is part of our subscription research service, BSG Tracker. Visit our website to find out more about this service. You can also follow us on Twitter for all the latest updates.

Airshow China to cooperate with Farnborough

News this week: U.K.-based exhibition organiser Farnborough International Limited (FIL) has agreed to collaborate with the Zhuhai Airshow Company (ZACL), organiser of Airshow China, to further expand businesses in their respective markets. The agreement will involve ZACL collaborating with Chinese companies to organise trade delegations to the U.K.-based show, Farnborough International Airshow (FIA). Inversely, FIL will work with its parent company ADS Group, the trade organisation for the U.K. aerospace, defence, security and space industries, to promote Airshow China to its members and organise respective trade missions.

Furthermore, FIL will also be taking an exhibition stand at Airshow China to promote the business potential on offer at the FIA. Airshow China will take place from 13^th to 18^th November 2012 in Zhuhai.

FIL’s chief executive, Shaun Ormrod, commented, “This agreement represents a major opportunity to generate trade between the UK and Chinese markets. The sheer scale of the growth of the aerospace industry in China means strong partnerships with our Chinese counterparts is essential for the long-term growth prospects of the aerospace industry in the UK.”

This post is excerpted from BSG's weekly e-newsletter which is part of our subscription research service, BSG Tracker. Visit our website to find out more about this service. You can also follow us on Twitter for all the latest updates.