IE expo 2014 Back on Road to Success

In its recently released urbanisation plan, the Chinese government is initiating an enormous infrastructure program that, according to Thomson Reuters, will have a significant impact on domestic demand and the country's economic development. The political decision is also reflected by record growth in the amount of space at IE expo of approximately 20 percent, emphasising yet again its significance as China's leading trade fair for environmental technology. The next IE expo takes place at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC) from May 20–22, 2014.

At this point, IE expo already occupies some 50,000 square meters of exhibition space, which is a considerable increase of nearly 20 percent compared to the final results of last year's show (42,000 square meters). Seven countries, i.e. Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Switzerland and the United States have announced national pavilions. The regions of Hong Kong and Taiwan will also be represented.

Besides the exhibition, IE expo is also an outstanding opportunity for a professional exchange between representatives of the commercial, scientific and political sectors. Messe München is holding the Innovation Exchange Forum on all three days of the fair. On May 20, the Bavarian State Ministry for Environmental and Consumer Protection (StMUV) will focus on specific demands and examples for China in a series of presentations, the slogan of which is "Environmental Protection: Expertise, Projects, Management". The event is being organised in conjunction with the Bavarian Environmental Cluster. On the last two days of the fair, German Water Partnership (GWP) is holding a series of lectures titled "German solutions for Chinese water challenges". GWP member companies are putting together the program of events.

During the entire fair, the German Association for Water, Waste Water and Waste (DWA) together with the Tongji University (Shanghai) will present an extensive program of scientific and technical conferences on topics such as "Policy Interpretation", "Water Pollution Control and Drinking Water Safety", "Treatment and Utilization of Sludge", "Air Pollution Control" and "Young Water Professionals—Cooperation of Industry and Academic Research".

In addition, on May 21, Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) will present four joint projects between Germany and China. The names "SEMIZENTRAL", "DELIGHT", "WAY" and "HAPPI" have been assigned to subsidy and innovation programs, development plans and strategy optimisation measures.

In conjunction with the annual meeting of the Chinese Society of Environmental Science (CSES), the "Business Opportunities in Environmental Industry from New Urbanisation" summit will be held on May 20 and 21. In addition, MMI-ZM Trade Fairs (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. is organising the "Sustainable Solid Waste Management Conference for Resource Recovery" and the "2014 International Forum & Exhibition on Contaminated Site Remediation" on the last two days of the fair.