Organisers of the trade fair continue to be the China National Hardware Association and Koelnmesse. They want to give the trade fair a new image with a modified concept while maintaining the size scale. At the same time, Koelnmesse wants to attract more international exhibitors for the CIHS.In October 2019, almost 3 000 exhibitors were present on the 120 000 m² of exhibition space and more than 40 000 visitors were counted.
In the last five years, the CIHS has taken place in the Shanghai National Convention and Exhibition Center (Hongqiao). Due to the China International Import Expo, which has been taking place on the exhibition grounds since 2018, the timing of the CIHS was brought forward to an earlier date and the use of the venue was greatly limited. This resulted in difficulties and inconvenience for both exhibitors and visitors which had a negative effect on the entire event, admitted the event organisers. At a joint press conference in Beijing, Zhang Dongli, chairman of the China National Hardware Association, and Keith Tsui, chief executive officer of Koelnmesse (Beijing) Co. Ltd., explained the, what they themselves call, sweeping changes. They state that this is a reaction to feedback from exhibitors and visitors. "The modified concept of the CIHS will remain market- and technology-orientated, will continue to focus on the development of added value for participants, will maintain the size scale of the trade fair and place an emphasis on the improvement of the quality and strengthening of service," says Zhang Dongli.
The CIHS is said to be the world's second largest trade fair in the industry and the barometer of the Chinese hardware market. When the trade fair began in the year 2000, the export value of the Chinese hardware industry, according to the event organisers, amounted to approximately USD 3.8 bn. It currently remains stable at around USD 100 bn.