Enjoying Your Happiness & More Business at China Fish 2008

Press release

Suzhou, a most beautiful city in China, just witnessed one of the biggest international tackle trade fairs in the world, China Fish 2008, which proved to be a very big success. China Fish 2008 once more hit an all-time high in almost all respects including registered buyers, exhibitors, exhibition area, standard booths, as well as show events.

GOOD CONTACTS WITH OVERSEAS BUYERS AT CHINA FISH

1,934 Registered Trade Visitors from 78 Countries and Regions

China Fish 2008 was in Suzhou, and it was the first time that China Fish show had been out of Beijing. However, even to the surprise of China Fish, the number of registered trade visitors at China Fish 2008 grew at a remarkable rate of 73% from 1,118 in 2007 to 1,934 in 2008 from 78 countries and regions. It made China Fish 2008, the biggest fishing tackle show on the planet, the paradise for world fishing tackle traders, where exhibitors can get their publicity to buyers all over the world all under one roof.

Trade Visitors of China Fish 2008 by Countries & Regions

Continent	Country / Region
Asia (26)	China (Mainland), Cyprus, Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Korea, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan (China), Thailand, The United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Vietnam, Yemen.
Europe (31)	Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech, Estonia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The United Kingdom, Ukraine.
America (10)	Argentina , Brazil, Chile, Canada, Guadeloupe, Mexico, Panama, The United States, Uruguay, Venezuela.
Oceania (3)	Australia, New Caledonia, New Zealand.
Africa (8)	Cameroon, Central Africa, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia.
Total	78 countries / regions

(Source: China Fish)

The top six countries by the number of buyers are the U.S.A., Japan, Australia , South Korea, China (solely foreign-owned companies, Sino-foreign joint ventures, and representative offices of overseas companies in China) and Russia.

The 10 new coming countries and regions (having not attended China Fish show over the past two years) are Cameroon, Central Africa, Croatia, Guadeloupe, Ghana, Iceland, Slovakia, Switzerland, Venezuela, and Yemen.

High Quality of Trade Visitors

Most of the trade visitors are wholesalers, retailers, and trading companies accounting for 84% of the total. Many leading companies from world tackle industry came to the show, such as Behr, Daiwa, D.A.M., Fladen, Fuji, Gamakatsu, JRC, K2-UK, Leeda, Mustad, Okuma, Owner, Penn, PLANO, Pure Fishing, Rapala VMC, Shakespeare, Shimano, Stricke Pro, Sufix, Svendsen, Ultimate, ZEBCO, etc. About 60% of trade visitors stated they came from management according to the pre-registration forms.

Trade visitors by category

Category	Percentage
Wholesaler	64%
Manufacturer representative	14.4%
Import & Export house / Trading company	14%
Retailer	5.6%
Association / Organization	0.92%
Agency	0.69%
Others	0.39%

Source: China Fish)

More Purchasing from China

According to the Pre-registration Forms, the top five most wanted products are: Lines, Rods, Reels, Hard Lures and Soft Lures. Unlike last year, China Fish 2008 divided Lures into Hard Lures and Soft Lures. Therefore, the top four products actually remained the same as China Fish 2007. The demands for Terminal Tackle rose to the seventh; hooks, sixth; bags, having been out of the top ten for three years, rises to the ninth place, while nets down to tenth.

Trade visitors to buy at China Fish

Products	2008	2007	2006	2005
Line	1	2	1	3
Rods	2	3	2	1
Reels	3	4	3	2
Hard lures	4	1*	4*	4*
Soft lures	5
Hooks	6	-	-	-
Terminal Tackle	7	10	7	10
Fishing accessories	8	7	5	8
Bags	9	-	-	-
Nets	10	5	6	7

* including soft lures and hard lures / Source: China Fish

Tackle Export from China (Jan.-Sept., 2007)

Goods	Quantity	Over the same period of last year	Amount (US$)	Over the same period of last year
Rods	60,404,587	9.08%	256,464,228	24.86%
Reels	36,547,722	- 0.93%	123,355,662	21.66%
Hooks	2,970,884	3.28%	35,747,958	10.35%
Others	980,506,608	16.26%	172,209,314	35.30%

(Source: China Customs)

The figure shows that an increasing number of international buyers are visiting China Fish to purchase fishing tackle and outdoor products. Meanwhile, fast increased international buyers are attracting more international exhibitors to take part in China Fish.

BUY FROM CHINA TACKLE MANUFATURERS DIRECTLY
Fast Growing Chinese Tackle Making Industry

It is no exaggeration to say that China Fish is the biggest global tackle sourcing center. China Fish 2008 saw 430 exhibitors displaying all kinds of fishing tackle, among which 86% are manufacturers, and 25% are new comers. This is based on the fact that tackle manufacturing industry is growing in an increasingly rapid way in China.

In recent years, the industry has seen substantial progress in productivity and quality upgrade. For instance, in 2006, Kingfishing Group built a new factory covering an area up to 10,000m2. Many others have also extended their workshop such as Weihai Qintian Fishing Tackle Co., Ltd, Weihai Weiyu Fishing Tackle Co., Ltd, Weihai Haiyuan Fishing Tackle Co., Ltd, Rising Sun Tourist Goods Co., Ltd, Ningbo Zhongyuan (Rainbow) Fishing Gear Manufacture, Gaobeidian Lonton Tourist Goods Co., Ltd, Shantou Viva Fishing tackle Co., Ltd. and so on. ” said Mr. Li Jiang, president of China Fish.

Together with the extension of the factory, the productivity of Chinese tackle makers is also growing fast. Ningbo Rainbow Fishing Gear Co., Ltd. has 1,800 employees with US$40 million annual revenue. And most of its products export to more than 60 countries. Guangwei Group’s annual output value is over RMB1billion (about US$140 million) with 5,000 employees with a productive capacity of rods over 40 million pieces. And 90% of its products export to 65 countries.

Higher Quality Products and More Skilled Workers

Lower processing price is not the only reason why international buyers come to China, more importantly, China tackle makers can produce high quality products at the low price.

Over decades of years, Chinese fishing tackle makers have won great international reputation by high quality and prestige; in turn, right the reputation makes Chinese tackle industry’s growth and forges big tackle making groups like Weihai Guangwei Group Co., Ltd.

The high quality is guaranteed by more skilled workers and the improving management control. Commonly, the factory offers much higher wage and preferential treatment to the highly skilled workers than the ordinary ones.

Intellectual property rights (IPR) protection
Chinese Makers’ Keen Awareness of the Intellectual Property Rights

Chinese tackle making companies pay great attention to the protection of the intellectual property rights of the foreign products, which they see as the most important thing for their survival.

Each and every tackle making company has a product showroom. But only the buyers and the partners have the easy access to the room. Foreign partners’ new products are also stored secretly; it is hard even for some higher managers of the company to have a look at the products. During the show, the exhibitors usually put their foreign partners’ products in a comparatively close room, not easy to see for common visitors.

Business Seminar about Intellectual Property Rights Protection

Mr. Liu Zhengang, Director of Beijing Intellectual Property Office, delivered a speech on intensifying the protection of the IPR during the exhibitions. And he also informed that “The Measures of Beijing Municipality for the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights during Exhibitions” were adopted at the 76th executive meeting of the Government of Beijing Municipality on November 19, 2007, and shall come into force as of March 1, 2008. Director Liu’s speech well suggested that the Chinese government attaches great importance to the IPR issue, and gets aware to protect their intellectual property through legal process. And also, the speech did remove some foreign players’ worries on playing in Chinese market.

CHINA FISH Move in Protecting the Intellectual Property Rights during the Show

“From the year of 2000, the copy issue began to catch on in China tackle industry, as well as at China Fish show. For this, some exhibitors were forced to hide their products, and only show them to the real buyers. From then on, more and more international buyers came to complain that there are too many copy products in China Fish show. At the same time overseas media started to expose the infringement of IPR in China once and again.” said Mr. Li Jiang.

“As the problem was becoming serious day by day, we got aware of the significance of the issue soon. It is no good for China Fish show, if most products exhibited at the show are copy ones, then China Fish will have no future. More importantly, the entire industry in China will also come to its end if the problem can’t be duly resolved.”

During the past few years, China Fish has been always highly emphasizing the Intellectual property rights issue. Here Mr. Li has his story.

Mr. Li said: “In 2004, China Fish introduced the Best Product Showcase to encourage Chinese tackle makers to create the products by themselves, and say no to copy. From then on, the participation increased year on year. And we really see some serious creations.”

“In 2006, the Chinese government issued the Measures for the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights during Exhibitions. From China Fish 2007, we began inviting the officials and lawyers from the IPR authorities to set up on-site IPR office to deal with complaints during the show.” He continued.

“At China Fish 2008, we invited top officials and lawyers both from Beijng Intellectual Property Office and Intellectual Property Office of Jiangsu Province to the show. “ Mr. Li said. ”Mr. Liu Zhengang, director of Beijing Intellectual Property Office, delivered a seminar on how to protect the IPR. And the on-site IPR office accepted 11 complaints. Some problematic exhibits from three companies are removed off the booth.” He added.

Mr. Li also told us a “success story”. “Before China Fish 2008 opening, Abramis, a Poland company, had contact our Beijing office several times for the infringement of their box designing artwork. We helped them contact the company in trouble right after we got the details of the issue.” He said. “During the show, we also introduced the lawyer for these two companies. After the lawyer’s mediation, the infringing company made an official apology both to Abramis and the public in local newspaper, and the Abramis decided not to go to court,” went on Mr. Li.

In the end, Mr. Li showed his determination to protect the IPR. “In the future, China Fish will continue to try our best to stop the IPR infringement both inside and outside the show. From China Fish 2009, we will employ membership program, and will check every company’s credit record and IPR performance. And we will refuse the membership application from those companies that have bad records and performance. As a result, they will have no access to the show.” He said firmly.

Best Product Awards Banquet

Since 2004, China Fish has been organizing the Best Product Showcase, attracting more and more Chinese tackle makers to show their new products at the show, and pushing them to attach due attention to the innovation and upgrading in the products. This year, 66 companies entered 443 products to the Best Product Showcase under 15 categories. And 1,081 ballots were submitted to the organizer by international buyers as well as the media, out of which 863 ballots were valid.

Best Product Showcase in the Past 5 Years

Subject	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004
Products	443	420	390	153	100
Exhibiting companies	66	82	65	22	31
Votes from buyers	863	602	529	368	180
Winners	15	14	12	4	3

The Categories and the Winners

Category	Winner
Rods	Shandong Kevlar Fishing Factory
Reels	Guangdong Viva Fishing Tackle Industry Co., Ltd.
Lures	Jiangsu Fly Ocean Fishing Tackle Co., Ltd.
Baits	Hubei Old Ghost Bait Co., Ltd.
Lines	Lianyungang First Dart Fishing Tackle Co., Ltd.
Floats	Shijiazhuang Chunlei Fishing Tackle Co., Ltd.
Nets	Yaska Fishing Tackle Co., Ltd.
Bags	Rising Sun Tourist Goods Co., Ltd.
Clothing	Tianjin Qianxiwu Fishing Tackle Manufacture Co., Ltd. Fishing Clothing Factory
Electronics	Shenzhen Phiradar Technology Co., Ltd.
Fly Fishing Products	Weihai Mingyang Fishing Tackle Co., Ltd.
Giftware	Gold-Ocean Crafts Co., Ltd.
Fishing accessories	Leopard Sports Product Co., Ltd.
Terminal tackle	Gaobeidian Nangongjing Feilong Fishing Tackle Co., Ltd.
Outdoor equipment	Beijing King Fishing Tackle Co., Ltd.

This year, all the 15 categories found their winners well. Nets and Fly Fishing Products are two new categories; hook is not listed in the categories. The winning products are featuring innovation, practicality, as well as the flexibility. Shandong Kevlar Fishing Factory was exhibiting at China Fish for its first time. Right due to its new technology that leads the line inside of the rod without the guide, it won great interest among the buyers and so took the award under the rod category.

On the evening of Feb. 18, Suzhou International Exhibition center saw the great gathering of the fishing tackle world; over 1,000 people attended the Best Product Awards Banquet.

Share Your Knowledge, Experiences, and Opinions with Other People from the World at China Fish

For the first time, this year’s China Fish was supplemented by several seminars, covering subjects such as “Youngsters and Future of Fishing Tackle”, “European Tackle Market Protection”, “Fishing by Lures”, “Technology of Carbon Nano-Tube (CNT) in Tackle Making”, “Chinese Operate Its Own Brand” and “Chinese How to Fishing”. The speakers includes many experts such as Mr. Rex Hunt, world famous Australian fishing legend; Mr. Louis Tchertoff, managing director of Propesca, Lda, former president of EFTTA; Mr. Marc Mills, Okuma’s Product Promotion Manager; Dr. Thibaud from French National Institute; Mr. Charles Zhang, president of Okuma Fishing Tackle and Mr. Yi Zhe, president of Hubei Old Ghost Bait Co., Ltd.