Intertexitle Shanghai Home Textiles Spring 2011 fair received positive comments from exhibitors and visitors.

"To accommodate the sourcing period of the Chinese domestic market, the new fair was strategically held during the Spring season. The positive feedback received from the participants confirmed the show to be a success," said Ms Wendy Wen, Director Trade Fairs for Messe Frankfurt (HK) Co Ltd, organiser of Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles Spring. The fair held from 2 - 4 April 2011 at INTEX Shanghai and ShanghaiMart welcomed 9,755 visitors, as well as 219 suppliers from Austria, China, Korea, Hong Kong, Japan and the USA.

Out of the 9,755 buyers, 96% were from China and the majority of them had come to source for their new home furnishing collections.

"We are a retail shop in Wuxi selling mid to high-end curtains. To meet with the demand of our customers, I find it necessary to source in the Spring market. This fair offers a good variety of choice; I have made many orders this morning. To fulfil my sourcing need, I see this is a must-attend event," said Ms Qi Wen, owner of Wuxi Ruyi Curtain, China.

The majority of the exhibitors were also pleased with this arrangement. Mr Alex Wong from Hong Kong based Tatty Functional Textile chose this new fair to promote their newly designed 3D pattern upholstery fabrics which is unique in the home textile market. "We believe Spring, notably March is the best sourcing time in China as this is the time when the brands and manufacturers prepare for the next season's collection,"said Mr Wong.

Same for the US based fibre company INVISTA, they used the fair to launch their new product DACRON. This material can be used in pillows and mattresses to provide extra warmth and comfort.

"We are in the right place at the right time to launch our new bedding filling product DACRON to the Chinese market. Rising living standards has increased demand for quality products, we believe this product will be popular in this market," said Ms Stella Wang, Marketing Assistant Performance Materials for INVISTA Management (Shanghai) Co Ltd.

With the growing home product market in China, home textile suppliers feel the need to actively expand their business in this country as well as offering better quality products. Among these suppliers, Austrian fibre company Lenzing participated in this fair to expand their business in China.

"The high-end market in China is developing at a good pace; the people have a growing awareness of fashion and their living environment. As a result, we are optimistic that we can do well in this market with innovative fibres such as Tencel and Modal. Both are made with eco-friendly materials and can be applied to mattresses, bedding and towels and pillows,"said Dr Mohammad Abu Rous, Project Manager Home Textiles for Lenzing. Dr Rous was happy with the profile of the local home textile companies.

To meet the growing appetite of Chinese consumers for designed home products, buyers at the fair were looking for diverse home textile designs."I have found a lot of new designs in various styles at the fair, such as Mediterranean, country and neo-classic," said Ms Tang Yong Qi, Designer for Shanghai Laiqi Household Products from China. While another buyer Mr Liu Wei Peng from Foshan Tenai Home Texitles commented that the Spring fair was a good sourcing hub for the domestic market.

Chinese home textile suppliers also had their eyes on the domestic market. Kelida Home Textile, a long-term supporter to Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles decided to join the Spring edition to expand the domestic sales. "Although 80% of our business is export, we saw the need to expand our domestic sales. During the fair, we have made connections with domestic sales agents, retail shops and distributers. The show has reached our expectation, it will become a mature domestic trading platform for home textiles, "said Mr. Peter You, Sales Manager for Kelida Home Textile.

Mr Zhuo Jian Qu, Sales Director for Haining Jinbali also shared the same sentiment. "We aim to promote our new home textile brand Jin Luolan to the local mass market. At the fair we met many of our existing customer and new leads from Shanghai and neighbour cities,"said Mr Zhuo. Their products included linen, cotton, polyester and silk curtains.

The next Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles Spring Edition will be held in April 2012 in Shanghai. The fair is organised by Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd, the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT and the China Home Textile Association (CHTA).