Increasing in scale, up 30% from 2010, Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics opens this autumn 18 October 2011 and runs for four days at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre. Covering 13 halls on nearly 150,000 sqm of trade space, the increase will accommodate two halls dedicated for accessories and trims, three international halls featuring country and region pavilions from Germany, Japan, Italy, Korea, Taiwan as well as new country pavilion entry from Spain while the remaining halls will focus on Chinese suppliers.

“We understand that 2011 will continue to be a challenging year for textile players due to several factors including rising raw material costs, inflation growth and higher labour overheads,” stated Ms Wendy Wen, Director for Trade Fairs, Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd. Adding: “However, we firmly believe that when faced with challenges new opportunities arise. The increase in size only proves that insiders have chosen Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics as their best possible solution to tap into the international marketplace all conveniently located in one place.”

Debut Planet Textiles conference on sustainability

For the first time at the Shanghai fair, Messe Frankfurt and Eco Textile News will jointly co-organise Planet Textiles conference on sustainability. Senior executives from major clothing brands will be joined by top textile companies from Hong Kong and China, NGO’s and Chinese government officials to discuss supply chain transparency and compliance, the efforts of the Chinese denim sector to improve its environmental profile and resource efficiencies including the conservation of energy and water use in China's textile manufacturing sector.

Confirmed speakers include:

Mr Kenneth Lo, Chairman, Crystal Group (Hong Kong)
Mr Delman Lee, Director, TAL Group (Hong Kong)
Mr Pat Nie Woo, Sustainable Fashion Business Consortium (Hong Kong)
Mr Sun Ruizhe, President of CTIC and Vice President of CNTAC (China)
Mr Liazzat Rabbiosi, United Nations Environment Programme (France)
Ms Eleanor Wright, Senior Director Raw Materials, Wal-Mart (USA)
Ms Linda Greer, Director, Natural Resource Defense Council (USA)
Mr John Mowbray, Executive Editor, Ecotextile News, (UK)
Mr Phil Patterson, Chairman, RITE Group (UK)

Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics 2011 is co-organised by Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd, the Sub-council of Textile Industry, CCPIT and the China Textile Information Centre.