This year again, into its third edition, the Salone del Mobile.Milano Shanghai showcased the very best of Italian manufacturing and design at the SEC – Shanghai Exhibition Center, with a general feeling of great satisfaction and optimism.
With its wide-ranging programme of business and cultural debate, the 123 exhibiting companies and the more than 22,500 attendees testified to the strong rise in the number of carefully selected professionals for an event that has become increasingly well known throughout China; in addition, as well as the affirmative presence of delegates from Shanghai, along with Zhejiang and Jiangsu, there was a significant rise in attendees from Beijing and Guangdong, followed by Shandong, Fujian, Sichuan, Henan and Hubei.
The potential for growth is encouraging. Italian brands are relying increasingly on consumer confidence, demonstrating their ability to identify promising sectors and channels, and are positioning themselves on the market with a clear-cut and powerful identity.
Claudio Luti, President of the Salone del Mobile, said:
“We are closing the third edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano Shanghai with great satisfaction. We realise that China is increasingly becoming a target market for our businesses and together we have been able to illustrate the best of our savoir-faire with a wide- ranging and structured range of goods that has seen a positive response and interest from a new audience, not only from Shanghai. We were fortunate to have the support of the institutions at the event. I believe that it is only by working together that we can truly achieve the solidity and ability to create interesting business opportunities for the system as a whole. There is a huge appetite for Italian experience, our products and our story and we are in a position to narrate and present it to best advantage, backed up by our architects and designers, who help us transmit the added value of Italian design. The success of the Shanghai edition also provides an opportunity to attract an increasingly broad Chinese audience to the Salone in Milan.”
Thanks to the Italian manufacturing system’s ability to present itself and work in a unified and mutually reinforcing way, representing excellence in every sector from design itself to design culture, enabling Italian brands to engage optimally with a constantly evolving market, the event was yet again a perfect meeting point for the desires of an increasing number of Chinese consumers who dream about Italy, and love the taste, the creativity, the quality of life and products, and the style, innovation and craftsmanship of furnishing and design companies for whom China is a key market, ripe for expansion.
Moreover, the huge volume of positive responses from the companies, from both the general public and from the stakeholders confirms that the Salone del Mobile.Milano Shanghai’s strategy for making the event into an opportunity for experiences, interface and cultural exchange is a major factor in its “winning formula”, thanks to its ability to channel manufacturing, protagonists and energy from both East and West into a relatively small space, further underpinning the commercial and cultural bridge between Italy and China that can bring benefits for both sides.
SaloneSatellite Shanghai also celebrated its 3rd edition, featuring 39 young Chinese designers: the award-winners will be invited to the next edition of SaloneSatellite at the Salone del Mobile.Milano from 9th to 14th April 2019.
The three Master Classes were also fascinating and packed, featuring leading names in Italian architecture and design – Michele De Lucchi, Stefano Boeri and Roberto Palomba – and an equal number of talented Chinese designers– Yung Ho Chang, Liu Yichun and Fu Rong Chen.
The debates organised by the media partners of the Salone del Mobile.Milano Shanghai – DESIGNWIRE, domus China, INTERNI and INTERNI China – were equally absorbing and packed, as was the Elle Decoration China Ronghe exhibition, mounted in collaboration with leading Italian brands and proving yet again that China is increasingly aware of and attuned to Italian culture.
Again, this year, the full collaboration of the government proved central, with the presence of Alberto Bonisoli, Minister for Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, the Minister for Economic Development, the Italian Trade Agency ICE, the Italian Embassy in Beijing with Italy’s Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China Ettore Sequi and the leading Italian institutions in China; in addition, the organisational input of our Chinese partner VNU Exhibitions Asia, the collaboration with the Suning Group, a strategic partner in the event, and with the Intesa Sanpaolo Group, institutional partner of the Salone del Mobile.Milano proved equally crucial.
The Salone del Mobile.Milano Shanghai will be back in November 2019: see you next year.
