Liu Minxia

    mllmx@msn.com

    ONE of Shenzhen’s signature fairs, the China International Optoelectronic Expo (CIOE), opened yesterday with more exhibitors than previous years even though an economic slowdown is taking its toll on a wide range of industries.

    Established in 1999, the four-day CIOE is now the largest show of its kind in the world, featuring more than 3,200 optoelectronic enterprises and their latest products in the area of more than 110,000 square meters at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center.

    “The exhibition grew slightly this year (despite the economic slowdown),” said Jime, Essink, president and CEO of UBM Asia Ltd., one of the organizers of the fair. “We haven’t seen an impact on the number of exhibitors, but need to see whether there is an effect on visitors.”

    With 2015 dubbed as the International Year of Light in China, CIOE organizers have planned several fair activities, including the lecture “Scientists Face to Face” to popularize knowledge about light and light-based technology.

    The fair is also hosting five concurrent expositions, including the Optical Communications Expo, the Lasers and Infrared Applications Expo, the Precision Optics Expo, LED Tech China and Smart City China.

    With Shenzhen expected to become an increasingly important base for China’s light and light-based technology industry, CIOE organizers have also worked alongside academics to host lectures and generate reports for local institutes of higher learning that focus on these fields. In particular, the chairperson of the International Year of Light, John Dudley, will visit the fair to discuss future prospects and careers in the industry.

    Professor David Payne, director of Britain University of Southampton Optoelectronics Research Center (ORC), will deliver the keynote address, “Optical Fibers: The Next Generation.” In addition, Yole Developpement, the world’s leading optoelectronics market consultancy, collaborated with CIOE to hold the first International Forum on Sapphire Market and Technologies.

    This forum will gather the world’s top players and experts in the sapphire industry to discuss the current situation and future trends. Ludmila Zubova, marketing director at Monocrystal, Rick Schwerdtfeger from Arc Energy, Jeff Nestel-Patt from GTAT, John Kwan Park from DK-Aztek and managers from Huawei will share their sapphire market information and technical directions.

    During the fair, various onsite activities will be held, such as face to face sourcing meetings, procurement and tendering meetings, an industry job fair and new product and technology presentations.

    Other onsite activities include an intelligent robot show, the Makers Challenge Contest and the thriving Wearable Products T-Show, which is expected to attract thousands of visitors.