Paperworld China 2025 to Spotlight Key Market Trends
Paperworld China returns to Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center from 21-23 November 2025, uniting nearly 300 domestic and international brands across the stationery, art, and creative lifestyle sectors.
The 2025 edition will sharpen its focus on key market dynamics, introducing a dedicated area for fine art materials, highlighting the growing power of licensed intellectual property (IP), and featuring popular consumer-facing showcases. Serving both industry professionals and individual enthusiasts, the fair will continue to connect business with creativity across the stationery and lifestyle sectors.
A central theme of Paperworld China 2025 is the transformative role of IP collaboration, which is elevating stationery into collectible cultural merchandise. Licensed designs are gaining significant traction in school supplies, journals, and collectibles, merging functionality with storytelling to resonate powerfully with younger audiences. Judy Cheung, Deputy General Manager, Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd, shares her outlook: “Paperworld China captures the dynamic energy of today’s creative product markets, spotlighting growing trends to a broader audience. By bringing together iconic global brands and China’s leading players, as well as highlighting the rapidly rising movement towards IP collaboration, the fair will create a comprehensive stage where ideas, culture, and commerce meet.
The fair has confirmed the participation of leading Chinese exhibitors such as Chinjoo, CJP, Deli, Guangbo, M&G, Magi-wap, Superior, and VIKKO, alongside international brands including Bonito, Faber-Castell, KING JIM, Maped, Pilot, Sakura, Schneider, Tombow, Uni, Zebra, and ZIPIT, represented in China through their distribution partners. This robust lineup reinforces the show’s importance to the stationery and creative lifestyle industries, and Shanghai’s position as a key central hub for both sectors.
The trend towards IP collaboration is underpinned by the sustained growth of China’s consumer market; the total retail sales of consumer goods for the first seven months of 2025 reached $3.9 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 4.8%. This consistent growth, which includes strong performance in the cultural, educational, and school supplies categories, underscores the healthy consumer appetite for the innovative products on display. Furthermore, China’s 70,200 international patent filings in 2024, its growth rate comfortably higher than the world average, cements its position as a global IP leader. Paperworld China 2025 will demonstrate the real-world value of IP for the stationery and creative lifestyle industries, through collaborations with beloved brands and pop culture characters such as My Little Pony, Sanrio, and Time Raiders.
New for 2025, the Art Top pavilion will debut as a premier destination for fine art materials, hosting prestigious brands such as Canson, Mont Marte, MUNGYO, Pebeo, rOtring, Royal Talens, Staedtler, and Van Gogh. Reflecting growing interest in artistic expression and quality craftsmanship, the area will bring together premium papers, colours, and tools for painting and sketching, offering both inspirational and practical resources for professional artists, students, and creative enthusiasts.
The fair will also see the return of Twenty Pro, a dedicated space for international stationery brands to connect with the Chinese market. Aligning with the fair’s positioning, it encourages direct engagement between overseas exhibitors and local buyers, fostering dialogue and new business opportunities.
Back by popular demand, Zakka Shop and The Mart will once again attract design-savvy consumers and retail buyers. These curated zones will feature an array of creative lifestyle products, from masking tapes and stickers to journals, scrapbooking supplies, stamps, and more. Celebrating individuality and visual storytelling, they offer a distinct environment for discovering niche items that appeal to collectors and curators.
“With a strong mix of innovation and returning favourites, the fair is perfectly poised to spark fresh collaborations and strengthen the connection between B2B and B2C segments,” says Cheung.
Paperworld China is organised by China Stationery and Sporting Goods Association (CSSGA) – an influential national industry association in China, Messe Frankfurt (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., and Zhejiang Growin International Exhibition & Convention Co. Ltd., and is the only trade fair in the domestic stationery industry that receives official support from CSSGA.
For latest updates, log on to www.paperworldchina.com
