Before the close of the inaugural Oceanology International China (OI China) held in Shanghai in early September, more than 70% of the space available for the next show in the series, being held September 3-5 , 2014 at INTEX Shanghai, had been reserved.
“Our new show in the long-standing Oceanology International series not only lived up to expectations, but exceeded them,” said Event Director James Coleman of Reed Exhibitions. “4,296 visitors attended over the three days, making 5,575 visits in all to our 192 exhibiting companies from 21 countries and regions which outstripped even the high targets we had set ourselves. Adding in our 767 exhibiting personnel we had total attendance of 5,063. With over 70% of the event reserved for next year, the event has clearly demonstrated its value to exhibitors. We are certainly looking forward to next year and expanding on this year’s success.”
U.K. Pavilion for 2014 show
Exhibitors were indeed fulsome in their praise. As John Murray of SMI said: “OI China is a show which has been necessary for a few years since China is a very important market in oceanography, and we see huge potential here. We look forward to working with Chinese companies in the next few years.”
He added, “The interest and number of visitors have been exceptional. I expect quite a large volume of business to come from having been here in Shanghai. We have brought quite a number of UK companies and all of them have been very pleased with the level of enquiries received.
“We are confident that as a result of the quality of the visitors that we’ve had that many will receive orders in the coming months and that will obviously encourage them to come back next year.
“It is our intention to create a new U.K. Pavilion and we are certain that the U.K. government will once again support us in this endeavor.”
Reconnecting with customers and making new contacts
“Sonardyne have come to the first OI China to reconnect with our existing customers with whom we had a long-term relationship and expand our business within the area,” explained Anthony Glisson of Sonardyne Asia. “It is a well-known fact that Chinese government is looking into expanding its marine and offshore industry and this is a good way to connect with new partners in China.
“We’ve been very impressed with the show; we’ve been very happy with the quality of the people that have come and the knowledge that they brought here, and we think it will be a good opportunity to participate again in the future.”
“This is our first exhibition in China, we are very pleased with the event, it’s been very successful,” says John McCann of SMD. “We have existing customers in the oil and gas, military and oceanographic spheres within China and we’ve been able to meet all of them this week.”
Exhibitions are about sales and Chad MacIsaac, of AXYS Technologies Inc, with its local agent ORES, was able to announce that: “CCCC purchased another Triaxys directional buoy from us at the same time as Oceanology International China,” adding that “OI China is of real benefit to the Chinese market and to international companies trying to improve business here in China through our partners.”
“We’ve come to OI China because it is a very important growing market for us,” explained James Douglas of Saab Seaeye. “We’ve been going to OI in the UK for a number of years; it’s a very important exhibition for us. It brings together the leading suppliers of underwater technology from around the world in one place, and now is addressing a growing market for us - the Chinese market.”
“This is our first time in China ... It’s been an absolutely fantastic experience for us, we’ve been swamped with meetings and interest from companies to represent us here in China, we’re hoping to find a distributor to represent us,” says Don Vokey, Marketing Director at e-Sonar. “The Trade Commissioner in Shanghai has helped us immensely. … OI China in Shanghai is definitely on our radar for future years, we’ll probably be back next year and every year after.”
“Many of our exhibitors chose to launch products and services new to the Chinese market and will undoubtedly reap the dividends,” says James Coleman. “And we are delighted to hear of business commitments made at the show, for example the MacArtney Group has just announced that it has extended its exclusive agreement with long standing Chinese agent SeaTech China, a new two-year deal was signed as SeaTech China and MacArtney joined forces at OI China.”
Successful OI China Conference
Alongside the exhibition, Oceanology International China featured a free-to-attend conference. Conference Chairman, Professor Ralph Rayner sums up the three days: “Oceanology International China got off to a flying start with standing room only at the opening plenary session and with a collection of excellent presentations. The plenary session provided powerful perspectives on the role of ocean science and technology in both ocean resource exploitation and ocean environmental protection.”
The conference opening plenary session featured a superb line-up of keynote addresses by Dr Bernard Montaron, Director, Schlumberger China Petroleum Institute, Beijing; Sylvain Barbot, Nanyang Assistant Professor, National Research Fellow, Earth Observatory of Singapore; Yousheng Wu, Academic, 702 Research Institute of China Shipbuilding Industry Corp; Dr Sylvia Earle, Founder of DOER Marine and renowned Oceanographer and Explorer; and Captain Don Walsh USN (retired), PhD, President, International Maritime Inc.
Subsequent conference sessions covered Underwater Vehicle Technology; Navigation and Positioning; Ocean Observation Systems and Instrumentation and Offshore Survey, Geophysics and Geotechnics.
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