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.