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Wednesday, November 19, 2014

China's Silicon Valley Fair



by Mark A. Ollig



The 16th China Hi-Tech Fair (CHTF) took place last week in the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center Hall.

Shenzhen is a highly populated city in the southern China Guangdong Providence, next to Hong Kong.

This year’s theme was “Innovation and Green Growth.”

The CHTF is noted for being the most important electronic technology exhibition in China.

One could compare it to our annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

A large number of China’s technology companies; representing what is recognized as the Chinese Silicon Valley, participated in this year’s fair.

“In order to promote the economic and technological cooperation between China and the other countries in the world, the Chinese government decides to hold CHTF each year in Shenzhen,” said Zhu Rongji, former Chinese premier.

The CHTF reportedly had approximately 3,000 exhibitors, with over 540,000 people attending from more than 58 countries.

Over 1,000 reporters and 300 media outlets also attended this year’s event.

I visited the CHTF website (English version), as I am interested in how other countries exhibit and showcase technology.

The website states the CHTF brings together and promotes cooperation between different countries, by exhibiting new high-end products, and holding high-level forums.

Some of the forums focused on advanced technologies in the fields of solar energy and energy conservation, including new types of energy sources and vehicles. The next generation of information technologies was also discussed.

CHTF prides itself on being “an important window” for showing others China’s high-tech sector.

I noted the conferences held during the CHTF included talks from 12 Nobel Prize winners, 70 ministerial-level government officials, and more than 400 presidents of companies, scientific leaders, and “management elites” from countries around the world.

Some of the conferences and forums covered low-carbon technologies, new energy development, and information technology.

Promoting technological interaction, cooperation, and economic relations with other countries and regions is an important role for the CHTF.

Barcelona, the capital city of the autonomous community of Catalonia in Spain, was one region of the world represented during the CHTF.

Spokespersons presented the economic and business potential; along with other benefits the city of Barcelona could provide to technology companies, should they choose to invest there.

The CHTF also serves as an exhibition zone for various Chinese delegations, including state ministries, provinces, municipalities, and universities and colleges.

A presentation by Wan Gang, deputy director-general of Ministry of Science and Technology of China, was printed on the website.

“The world is going through a new wave of technological revolution and industrial restructuring. The layout of worldwide innovation is changing fundamentally. Opportunities and challenges co-exist,” Wan Gang stated.

An Overseas Hi-Tech Achievement Show was specially prepared for international organizations, including foreign government authorities and industrial associations.

This show encouraged creating negotiations between China, foreign companies, and their associations.

This years’ CHTF exhibited popular products and services including new, innovative information technologies applicable to cloud computing, next- generation high-tech wearable devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, mobile Internet applications, and fourth-generation advanced-mobile communications technologies.

Wireless lighting control systems, smart home devices, and smart healthcare technologies were also exhibited during the fair.

Panasonic, Toshiba Electronics, Samsung, and Phillips Lighting Company are some of the more well-known companies which demonstrated their products at the CHTF.

There were approximately 500 key exhibitors (companies) listed in a 24-page text document located on the CHTF website.

I noted many of these companies were from the CHTF host city.

Shenzhen TTS Network Technology Co. LTD, showcased an intelligent home-school communication platform, a high-speed attendance RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) system, and a digital campus-management RFID system. Its website (Chinese) is: http://www.51tts.com.

Another company participating, Eagle Vision Technology from Seattle, WA, is a provider of monitoring cameras, centralized monitoring software, and video recording servers and other-related accessories. Its website is: http://www.eaglevisiontech.com.

The complete listing of CHTF key exhibitors (including their websites) can be viewed at: http://tinyurl.com/m3se24h.

The 16th China Hi-Tech Fair displayed some of the newest advanced electronic technologies to the world.

It promoted both economic and social development benefits, broad international scientific collaboration, and media attention from columnists like yours truly.

The English website for the CHTF is: http://www.chtf.com/english.