The 2014 China International Weighing Instrument Exhibition was successfully held

　　The 2014 China International Weighing Instrument Exhibition was successfully held from April 19th to 21st at the Guangdong Modern International Exhibition Center in Dongguan, Guangdong Province. A total of 324 weighing instrument manufacturers from 20 provinces and cities across China, as well as from the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Finland, Poland, Turkey, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, enthusiastically participated in this exhibition.

　　Weighing instrument manufacturers were full of confidence in this exhibition and actively signed up to participate. Although the location of this weighing instrument exhibition was relatively far from the concentrated areas of weighing instrument production enterprises in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and the transportation was not as convenient as in large cities such as Shanghai, the number of participating enterprises only decreased by 7% compared to 2013, and the exhibition area still reached nearly 22,000 square meters, only a 15% decrease from 2013. This marked the fourth consecutive year that the exhibition area has remained above 20,000 square meters, following the first time it exceeded 20,000 square meters at the Shanghai Weighing Instrument Exhibition in 2011.

　　Due to the exhibition's location in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, Guangdong Province became the province with the most participating enterprises for the first time, while Zhejiang Province remained the province with the largest exhibition area. Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces each accounted for approximately one-fifth of the total number of participating enterprises and nearly one-fourth of the total exhibition area. Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Fujian followed in the rankings. These five provinces accounted for approximately three-quarters of the total number of exhibitors and five-sixths of the total exhibition area.

　　Among all participating enterprises, approximately two-thirds were member units of the China Weighing Instrument Association, accounting for five-sixths of the total booth area. Non-member units accounted for approximately one-third, but their booth area only accounted for one-sixth of the total area. A total of 53 enterprises participated for the first time, accounting for one-sixth of the total number of participating enterprises and one-fourteenth of the total exhibition area.

　　Among all participating enterprises, two-fifths had specially decorated booths, occupying three-quarters of the total booth area. Another three-fifths of the participating enterprises chose standard booths, which only accounted for one-quarter of the total booth area.

　　According to incomplete statistics, among all participating enterprises, those producing commercial weighing instruments, industrial weighing instruments, household scales, and balances accounted for approximately 70%; those primarily producing sensors and weighing instruments accounted for approximately 20%; and those producing other supporting products (such as weights, chips, casings, batteries, cables, etc.) accounted for approximately 10%.

　　According to incomplete statistics, more than 7,500 visitors from 29 provinces and cities across China and 83 countries and regions worldwide visited the exhibition. Of these, 39% were from Guangdong Province, 47% from other provinces and cities in China, and 14% from overseas and Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan.

　　At 9:30 am on April 19th, the opening ceremony of the 2014 China International Weighing Instrument Exhibition was grandly held in the central lobby of Hall 3 at the Guangdong Modern International Exhibition Center. Guests attending the opening ceremony included leaders from the China Light Industry Federation, the National Bureau of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine’s Metrology Department, the China Institute of Metrology, and the Dongguan Municipal Government’s Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, as well as the vice-president of the China Weighing Instrument Association and representatives from Canada, Finland, North Korea, the Netherlands Metrology Institute, the UK Metrology Institute, the Swiss Metrology Institute, the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Taipei City Metrology Association, and the Shandong, Jiangsu, and Fujian Provincial Metrology Institutes.

　　Liu Xiaohua, president of the China Weighing Instrument Association; Paul Enckwood, director of the Netherlands Metrology Institute; Zhang Honglu, president of the Taipei City Metrology Association; and Xu Hang, director of the Fujian Provincial Metrology Institute, delivered opening speeches, wishing the exhibition a complete success.

　　The organizers invited nine guests to cut the ribbon for the opening ceremony: Du Tonghe, vice-president of the China Light Industry Federation; Song Wei, vice-director of the National Bureau of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine’s Metrology Department; Zhang Honglu, president of the Taipei City Metrology Association; Philippe Richard, director of the Swiss Metrology Institute; Paul Enckwood, director of the Netherlands Metrology Institute; Mr. Darrell, from the US National Institute of Standards and Technology; Xu Hang, director of the Fujian Provincial Metrology Institute; Mr. Volauti, general manager of Kilotech Company, Canada; and Liu Xiaohua, president of the China Weighing Instrument Association.

　　During the exhibition, the 13th National Weighing Technology Seminar and New Technology and New Product Release Conference was held in a conference hall specially set up in the exhibition hall of the Guangdong Modern International Exhibition Center. The conference began with a special report on "NTEP Type Evaluation Procedures" by Mr. Darrell from the US National Institute of Standards and Technology. Following this, Xu Hang, director of the Fujian Provincial Metrology Institute, gave a detailed introduction to "Non-weight Verification Device for Large-scale Weighing Instruments—High-precision Weighing Instrument Load Measuring Instrument"; and Lu Xinguang, researcher at the Shandong Provincial Metrology Institute, gave a special report on "The World's First Automatic Weighing Instrument Material Circulation Test System". Six exhibiting companies then introduced their latest scientific research results to the audience. The main topics were:

　　Design and application of high-precision belt scales

　　New columnar sensor

　　D29 instrument

　　Slide scale

　　Dynamic loading electronic scale

　　Internet of Things instrument XK3190-DS8

　　High-speed and high-precision weight sorting technology and high-speed and high-precision batching instrument

　　SOC applied to health weighing instruments and portable medical devices

　　At the seminar, the speakers were well-prepared, and the content was rich and presented from unique perspectives and in diverse forms, showcasing the latest technological achievements and attracting a large number of visitors. The venue was often full. After each speech, the audience actively asked questions, and the speakers patiently answered them, resolving many questions and exchanging opinions. The seminar achieved its expected results and received wide recognition. The new product and new technology release conference provided valuable added value services to exhibitors and a good platform for the exchange of new technologies and the release of new products in the weighing instrument industry. The conference attracted many professionals and potential buyers, helping exhibiting companies gain higher visibility and more potential business opportunities. Companies used on-site explanations and demonstrations to allow professional audiences to learn about the latest achievements in the weighing instrument industry immediately.

　　During the seminar, more than 800 copies of the carefully prepared "Proceedings of the 13th Weighing Technology Seminar" and "Compilation of Excellent Papers from Previous Weighing Technology Seminars" were quickly snapped up by professional audience members.

　　This exhibition showcased new products and technologies in weighing instruments developed by weighing instrument companies worldwide in recent years, including various weighing instruments and weighing management systems, balances, weighing sensors, weighing display controllers, and various testing instruments and meters required by the weighing instrument industry, as well as components and materials related to weighing instrument products. It essentially reflected the latest scientific and technological achievements in the international development of weighing instruments and fully demonstrated the current development level of China's weighing instrument industry. In recent years, the output, output value, export volume, and economic benefits of China's weighing instrument products have all increased significantly. Some foreign businessmen attend every exhibition, gaining new insights and harvests each time. Some foreign businessmen have visited some weighing instrument companies and are quite familiar with China's weighing instrument industry. This time, coming to Dongguan, Guangdong, and seeing the various weighing instrument products produced in China exhibited at the exhibition, they gave high praise to the development of China's weighing instrument industry and the achievements of China's reform and opening up. The opening day of this weighing instrument exhibition coincided with the closing of the first phase of the Canton Fair in spring. Some foreign businessmen who participated in the Canton Fair and were interested in the weighing instrument exhibition came to participate in the weighing instrument exhibition, and some foreign businessmen participating in the Canton Fair stayed at hotels in Houjie, Dongguan. The time and location of the exhibition were convenient for these foreign businessmen, so the number of foreign businessmen participating in this weighing instrument exhibition did not decrease compared to the 2013 Shanghai weighing instrument exhibition. This exhibition also attracted the attention of many domestic weighing instrument users. Many enterprises that use weighing instrument products extensively, such as those in the metallurgy, chemical, machinery, transportation, grain, and petroleum industries, came to visit the exhibition. Many domestic foreign trade companies and weighing instrument distributors also came to the exhibition to discuss trade with exhibiting companies. Some weighing instrument manufacturers, in order to accelerate the pace of their development, also organized relevant personnel to visit and learn from the exhibition, exchange experiences, and discuss cooperation intentions. Many exhibiting units signed supply intention contracts with customers, expressed satisfaction with participating in the exhibition, and believed that the China International Weighing Instrument Exhibition played a very good role in promoting enterprises, carrying out technological exchanges, and promoting products to domestic and international markets. They felt that they benefited greatly and expressed their intention to participate in the next exhibition, hoping that the China Weighing Instrument Association would make the exhibition a world-class, international, professional exhibition.

　　The organizers of this weighing instrument exhibition sent invitations to domestic and foreign audiences who had visited the China International Weighing Instrument Exhibition over the years, sending tens of thousands of invitations to key user enterprises of weighing instruments, quality supervision and metrology systems in various provinces and cities, and weighing instrument enterprises, producing thousands of information bags containing information about the exhibition, and publicizing the 2014 Weighing Instrument Exhibition in magazines such as and . These effective publicity methods played a very important role in the successful holding of the exhibition.

　　Since 1995, the China Weighing Instrument Association has successfully held fifteen China International Weighing Instrument Exhibitions in Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Qingdao, Changsha, Nanjing, and Dongguan, Guangdong, effectively strengthening economic and technological exchanges and cooperation between China's weighing instrument industry and foreign countries. This has played a positive role in introducing advanced technologies and equipment, promoting domestic production, processes, and technological progress, accelerating product structural adjustments, and promoting the development of foreign trade. In recent years, the export volume of China's weighing instrument products has grown at a double-digit rate annually, except for 2009 when exports declined due to the global financial crisis and 2012 when the growth rate was smaller. According to customs statistics, in 2013, China's weighing instrument product exports amounted to US\$1.14 billion, an increase of 10.16% compared to 2012.

　　During the exhibition recruitment period, during exchanges with foreign businessmen, the organizers learned that the dates of this exhibition coincided with the Western Easter holiday, and it was expected that some European and American audiences would be inconvenienced in attending. Although, judging from the number of on-site visitors and the situation of the exhibition, the number of foreign visitors to this exhibition did not decrease, and the foreign businessmen who had previously stated that it would be inconvenient for them to attend also appeared at the exhibition. While thanking the foreign businessmen for giving up their important national holidays for the exhibition, it also reminded the organizers that although the selection of exhibition times is subject to many factors, it is also necessary to consider all aspects as much as possible for international exhibitions.

　　The 2014 China International Weighing Instrument Exhibition has come to a successful conclusion, and we will actively prepare for the next China International Weighing Instrument Exhibition. We believe that with the strong support and active cooperation of the members of the China Weighing Instrument Association and domestic and foreign weighing instrument enterprises, the China International Weighing Instrument Exhibition will become more and more successful.