Editor’s note: The following article was recently published on a website devoted to discussing advanced manufacturing in China. It later could not be found on that site, possibly having been censored or removed by the author. Written by a Chinese businessman, the piece is a vivid account of his experience at Hannover Messe 2015, the world’s largest industrial trade fair, held in April. The author uses his disappointing experience at the fair to reflect more broadly on China’s social and moral malaise. An archived version of the piece, posted to Sina Weibo on Aug. 1, is here.
This was the fourth time I had attended the Hannover Messe in northern Germany. It is the world’s largest and most comprehensive annual industrial trade exhibition. We were there to promote an e-commerce platform website in Shaanxi. During my stay, I was surprised to notice “Made in China” had been marginalized.
The trade fair, held from April 13 to April 17, consisted of 25 exhibition halls. On display were mostly traditional products, except for exhibition halls 7, 8, and 9, which displayed high-tech products. Good booth locations were taken by developed countries and newly developing countries, as well as Turkey, India, and former Soviet countries in Eastern Europe. Their booths ranged in size from 60 to 500 square meters (645.83 square feet to 5,382 square feet). Products made in China, however, were displayed in the least favorable areas, with 90 percent of booths ranging in size from 9 to 12 square meters (96.87square feet to 129.17 square feet) only.
Low-Tech and Unpolished
Visually, foreign companies’ booth designs were splendid, eye catching, brilliant, and customized. In contrast, Chinese companies’ booths looked dowdy, lackluster, and similar to each other.
Likewise, products exhibited by foreign companies were large in size but refined in their details. They were carefully designed, innovative, and difficult to manufacture. Chinese products, on the other hand, looked old-fashioned, clumsy, low-tech, and unpolished.
There were 6,500 exhibitors from 65 countries and regions and more than 180,000 foreign visitors. However, barely anyone visited Chinese booths. Some visitors reacted with impatience when Chinese vendors tried to introduce their products to them.
