ZHONGSHAN, China, March 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The 30th China (Guzhen) International Lighting Fair (hereinafter referred to as GILF), a four-day event, opened grandly on March 18th at the Guzhen Convention and Exhibition Center in Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, China. Gathering high-quality brands and attracting global buyers, the fair is a major procurement event for the spring season.
Since its inception as a roadside exhibition in 1999, the GILF has undergone significant transformations. In 2013, it moved to a new exhibition hall, and adopted the “Exhibition-Megastore Linkage” model. In 2016, it expanded to have both online and offline platforms. Now, it practices the concept of green exhibitions and optimizes traffic circulation. Over the past 25 years, the number of exhibitors has grown from 200 to 3,300, and the exhibition area has expanded from 28,000 square meters to 1.5 million square meters. Each upgrade not only enhances its overflow effect but also demonstrates the transformation of the lighting industry, injecting strong momentum into the high-quality economic and social development of Guzhen and Zhongshan.
The 30th GILF, themed “Guzhen Lights up the World,” aims to embrace the “new,” and connect with the global industries. With a focus on specialization, marketization, and internationalization, the fair spares no effort to build an exhibition and trade bridge that combines exhibition and megastores as well as offline and online platforms in the whole industrial chain. The main venue, Guzhen Convention and Exhibition Center, is joined by eight sub-venues, including Lihe Lighting Expo Center, Huayi Plaza, Star Alliance Global Brand Lighting Center, Lighting Era Center, Guzhen Chang’an Lighting Parts & Electronic City, Caosan International Lighting Parts City, Guyi Ruifeng International Lighting Fittings City, and Guyi Qingfeng LED Lighting Trading City, forming a “1+8+N” structure. It is a great platform to showcase new technologies of the industry, new exhibition and trade experience, and new cross-sector cooperation.
Spectacular opening ceremony to help extend, supplement, and strengthen the industrial chain
Ms. Liu Shengping, executive director of the China Association of Lighting Industry, stated at the opening ceremony: “After 25 years of rapid development, the professional and commercial GILF has gained recognition of the industry and good reputation in the whole society. As China becomes the global center for lighting manufacturing and supply chains, the influence of “Guzhen Lighting” in the international market continues to expand.”
Mr. Ouyang Jinquan, deputy mayor of Zhongshan City, also made a speech at the opening ceremony: “With the upcoming opening of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, Zhongshan is making great efforts to integrate into the development of the Greater Bay Area, and build a provincial-level reform and innovation experimental zone to reach new heights. Adhering to the principle of taking real economy as the foundation and manufacturing as the leading industry, Zhongshan tries to promote the development of traditional industries, emerging industries, and future industries simultaneously. Much work has been done to cultivate new quality productive forces, and five major actions have been taken to promote “big industries, big platforms, big projects, big enterprises, and big environment.” Moreover, “ten major fleets” of the new era are being built, including the lighting fleet. By empowering lighting and other industries with new technologies, new business models, and new formats, Zhongshan tries to foster and expand the national and provincial foreign trade transformation bases such as the Guzhen lighting base. A three-year action plan will also be implemented to improve the quality of industrial products, together with ten measures focusing on strict quality control and enhancement to comprehensively improve the quality of key industrial products such as lighting fixtures. The ultimate purpose is to promote the transformation of Zhongshan’s manufacturing industry towards “precision manufacturing,” make Guzhen Lighting and Zhongshan Lighting synonymous with high quality and help more Zhongshan brands to go global.”
Mr. Xue Zhiguo, secretary of the Guzhen Town Party Committee, said: “Looking forward to the future, Guzhen will always maintain its tradition while making innovations. In regard to tradition, it will maintain the dominant position of lighting industry, extending, supplementing and strengthening the industrial chain. Holding on to the dream of “Guzhen Lights up the World,” we remain true to our original aspiration of hosting specialized, commercial, and international lighting fair. In terms of innovation, Guzhen will keep making innovations and progress in a pioneering spirit. Great efforts will be made to build lighting industry center, trade center, design center, information center, and technology center, to turn Guzhen into a world-class capital of lights. With manufacturing as the leading industry, we help more manufacturing enterprises to settle in, return to, or establish new homes in Guzhen. The rapid intellectual property protection center, the pilot market procurement and trade unit, and other national policies will be leveraged to empower the lighting industry with science and technology. The ever-expanding Guzhen Lighting Fair will become a perfect platform for trade and information exchange in the lighting industry.”
Then, various ceremonies were staged at the opening ceremony, including the “Signing Ceremony of Investment Projects under the Guzhen Plan on Settlement of Enterprises with An Annual Output Value of Over 100 Million Yuan,” “Signing Ceremony of Projects Intended for the Guzhen Plan on Settlement of Enterprises with An Annual Output Value of Over 100 Million Yuan (second batch),” and “Signing Ceremony of Intended Projects for Modern Service Industry in Guzhen.”
Representatives from the China Association of Lighting Industry, brand strategists, major domestic and international buyers, large-scale lighting markets, leading enterprises, and mainstream media witnessed the grand opening ceremony.
A new layout adopted to build an international trade bridge
At nine o’clock in the morning, a stream of attendees entered the main venue by scanning their ID cards or using facial recognition efficiently. Inside the crowded exhibition halls, people moved between booths, searching for products or engaging in negotiations.
Many visitors also stopped at the spots featuring “Brilliant Milestone,” “Lighting Era – Wall of Historical Moments,” and “Dragon-shaped Lighting Design” to take photos.
The upgraded main venue attracts 928 high-quality companies to showcase their products in the whole industrial chain. The exhibits include smart lighting, decorative lighting fixtures, home lighting, commercial lighting, cultural tourism lighting, special-purpose lighting fixtures, mechanical equipment, and accessories. The comprehensive Hall G which has been expanded to double its capacity connects with the connects to the existing Halls A, B, C, and F, ensuring a smoother flow of people. This helps small and medium-sized enterprises overcome growth barriers, and promote diversified and high-quality development of the industry.
To adapt to the overall trend of integrated development of Shenzhen and Zhongshan as well as the maturing mode of “lighting research and development in Shenzhen and manufacturing in Zhongshan,” a Shenzhen-Zhongshan Brand Zone is established in Hall A. Compared to the 29th fair, the area has increased by 86.8%, and the number of participating companies has risen by 23.3%. This provides more opportunities for new cooperation models such as “headquarters in Shenzhen + manufacturing in Zhongshan,” “led by Shenzhen + supported by Zhongshan,” and “research and development in Shenzhen + commercialization in Zhongshan.”
Focusing on AI Application and specialized, refined, differentiated, and innovative enterprises
Following the trend of maturing application of the Internet of Things and AI technology, this fair focuses on three major fields: intelligent technology, green and low-carbon energy, and cross-sector integration.
The technological advantages of smart lighting technology in various fields such as home decoration, office application, landscape, education, and healthcare are demonstrated in the main venue in combination with chip development, driver design, system integration, data platforms, and other means.
There is a significant increase in the exhibitors and products featuring low-carbon, cross-sector, and new energy lighting applications. In particular, frontier products for landscape lighting and outdoor tourism, and energy storage batteries are great attractions to buyers.
The emphasis on specialized, refined, differentiated, and innovative enterprises is also a major feature of this fair. “Champion products” can be seen everywhere, and major exhibitors pay more attention to innovation in design, craftsmanship, and functionality, especially original products.
A gathering of great minds with multi-dimensional forums enlightening the future of the industry
The high-end conferences held at the main venue bring together industry leaders, sales experts, and research scholars to discuss new trends, technologies, and paths for industry development.
The “Forum on Industrial Chain Innovation to Promote High-Quality Development of the Lighting Industry,” hosted by the China Association for Lighting Industry, centers around hot topics such as innovation, rights protection, and digitization in the lighting industry, with many wonderful speeches. The “Shenzhen-Zhongshan Integration for Technological Innovation: 2024 Chinese Lighting Industry 3.0 Development Strategy & Greater Bay Area Lighting Innovation Technology Release Conference,” hosted by the Zhongshan Bureau of Commerce, gives a comprehensive exposition of the cutting-edge technologies and trends in smart manufacturing, digitization, and AI application.
The hit program, the “EZTalk” livestreaming forum focuses on keywords such as “international trade layout,” “natural spectrum,” and “lighting health.” It adopts the Metaverse virtual exhibition hall for live broadcast for the first time to showcase the latest industry achievements.
Appreciating the new chapter of lighting art
The policy of “a more specialized main venue and more high-end sub-venues” is better interpreted at the 30th Lighting Fair. Activities such as “Ordering Events,” “Design Week,” and “Sourcing Festival” make a stunning debut, allowing visitors to enjoy new products and promotions that integrate cross-sector functions.
A series of commercial activities for sales and promotions are carried out in the eight sub-venues mentioned above, attracting a large number of merchants, and creating a lively commercial atmosphere for the lighting capital.
Visitors watch the exhibition during the day, and enjoy the lights at night. On the night of the opening ceremony, impressive cultural and artistic activities were held in the Guzhen Ecological Wetland Park, including fireworks show, and national intangible cultural heritage items – Liufang Yunlong Dance, Lingnan Lion Dance, Lotus Loong, and Ribbon Loong.
In addition, cultural resources from the city, town, and villages are also integrated to promote consumption, and enrich the travel experience of visitors through a range of activities.
The Guzhen Lighting Fair has witnessed the rise of the lighting industry of the town, forming a multi-dimensional industrial ecosystem. Looking to the future, it will continue to link with global resources and merchants to showcase cutting-edge technologies and achieve win-win results in innovation and trade, as a model in integration of industry, technology, culture, and tourism.
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SOURCE China (Guzhen) International Lighting Fair
