Entering its 17th edition, Paperworld China 2021 is set to take place from 15 – 17 October at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai). Some of China’s top stationery brands including Comix, Deli, Guangbo, M&G and Sunwood will showcase their latest designs and exquisite innovations during the three-day show. A number of well-known art supplies brands including Bingxin, Chinjoo, Magi-Wap, Maries, Mont Marte and WingArt will also set up welcoming showcases to accommodate the growing demand for art training and education in China. What’s more, the massive Chinese e-commerce platform, Jingdong.com will exhibit at the show for the first time, reflecting the growing prominence of e-commerce platforms as an essential sales channel for stationery, school and office supplies.
Paperworld China takes a big step towards online channels
Paperworld China continues to pioneer new initiatives in line with the latest industry trends. To help exhibitors seize the myriad of opportunities that digital tools have to offer, the 2021 edition sees the introduction of a live broadcast area for online streaming. “Wanghui Stationery”, a popular channel on the video platform and online store Tiktok, will promote exhibitor products to its huge audience of 860,000 followers. The stream will also be the exclusive live broadcast channel of the BSOC Awards. To promote exhibiting products to a wider audience, a Tiktok channel dedicated to Paperworld China will deliver live coverage of the fair, allowing exhibitors to extend their sales reach to prospects who are not in attendance at the fairground.
As with each edition, the show continues to make huge efforts to create promotional opportunities. Just one example this year is the “Calligraphy for All” event, which will be held in collaboration with the famous Chinese online calligraphy channel “Let’s practice calligraphy”. As more advanced technology takes over people’s lives, handwriting and calligraphy seem to diminish in everyday life. The event aims to encourage people to rediscover the benefits of putting pen to paper, appreciate the art of handwriting and calligraphy, and to promote the heritage of Chinese culture. Opportunities for enthusiasts to engage with calligraphy have already begun prior to the opening of Paperworld China. On 17 July, the first of several online activities attracted an impressive 18 million views, setting a new record for an online stationery event in China. A new themed activity will take place each month in the lead up to the fair. More than 200 influential Chinese KOLs (mostly related to calligraphy and stationery) from Weibo, one of the biggest social media platforms in China, are invited to participate in the fair’s fun-filled online calligraphy events. This online exposure will be combined with coverage on other prominent online platforms such as Xiaohongshu, Tiktok, Kuaishou and Bilibili, to attract more participants who are interested in stationery and writing tools.
The BSOC Awards extend their engagement and influence
Highly recognised by the industry in China, the Best Stationery of China Awards (BSOC Awards) will be upgraded with the addition of a new award category known as the “Store Manager’s Choice Award”. In recognition that store managers are frontline members of the industry who directly interact with customers and have a good understanding of product features, the new award category has confirmed more than 300 store managers of local stationery stores, grocery stores, bookstores and retail chain stores to join the judging panel to choose the best stationery of the year. To extend the influence of the Awards, the organising committee has launched an “authorisation programme”, to approve the use of “BSOC display areas” in both online and physical retail stores. As of June, more than 200 stores had already applied to join the programme. With a total of 500 online and offline stores planned, the programme is set to draw significant customer attention and make a bigger impact on the influence of the winning brands. This in turn will encourage other industry players to dedicate more effort to creativity and innovation.
New show date in 2022 for greater opportunity and convenience
In the stationery and school supplies industry, May is the peak sourcing period for many professional purchasers and retailers as it’s the ideal time to source and launch products before the school summer holiday begins. To accommodate this, the 2022 show is scheduled to take place from 12 – 14 May. Ms Judy Cheung, Deputy General Manager of Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd, explains: “To capitalise on the Paperworld China Shanghai, 15 – 17 October 2021 prime sourcing season, we have come to the decision to move Paperworld China to May next year following an extensive consultation with all stakeholders. The change in timing will undoubtedly further solidify Paperworld China as a leading trade fair for stationery, office supplies, hobby, art and craft supplies in Asia. In fact, the change has already been well received by some exhibitors looking to take full advantage of the earlier summer sourcing season.” Organised by the China Stationery and Sporting Goods Association (CSSGA) and Messe Frankfurt (Shanghai) Co Ltd, Paperworld China is the only trade fair in the domestic stationery industry that receives official support from the CSSGA, an influential national industry association in China.
