The premiere edition of BAU Congress China held recently in Beijing received a great response from trade professionals. The two-day congress with the accompanying exhibition drew a total of 3,094 visitors, exceeding all expectations of the organisers.

Held at the China National Convention Center (CNCC) near the Olympic Village, BAU Congress China was organised by MMI Shanghai, a subsidiary of Messe München International. About a thousand people had registered in advance to attend the event; however, many more turned up at the venue and registered, according to Mirko Arend, Deputy Business Unit Director at Messe München and Exhibition Director of BAU in Munich.

Though most of the attendees came from China, there were several trade professionals who travelled to the event from a total of ten countries including Australia, Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain. The participants included architects, engineers, urban developers, property experts and investors.

The Deputy CEO of Messe München, Dr Reinhard Pfeiffer, who opened the event, said he was very satisfied with the decision to position a high-calibre congress in China, built on the expertise of the world’s leading building trade show, BAU.

MMI Shanghai Managing Director Ryan Loh added that the entire exhibition and conference areas were packed with people at all times.

Attendance was also high at the BAU Congress China lectures, each attracting an audience of 300-500 people. The congress was thematically divided into two parts with the first day focussed on sustainable urban development, and the second day on integrated planning and construction. Speakers from Germany included Thomas Auer, Jürgen Engel and Stephan Schütz, while China was represented by Wang Lu, Xu Tiantian and Liu Xiaodu.

The exhibition accompanying the congress featured 42 companies from ten countries including 23 from Germany. Exhibitors included the door and gate manufacturer Hörmann, who was the official industrial partner of BAU Congress China.

BAU partners German Sustainable Building Council and the Fraunhofer Building Innovation Alliance also contributed to this new project in China in addition to publishers Bauverlag and the Archi-Europe Group, with whom BAU has also been working closely for many years.