Music China, Asia’s prominent music trade event, is set to take place Oct. 11-14 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre.

Benefiting from China’s promising MI market, the 2017 show is expected to exceed last year’s scale and expands to 11 halls, covering 125,000 sqm of exhibition space (2016: 112,000 sqm in 10 halls). With full support from the global music industry, over 90% of exhibition space has been reserved to date.

China’s 13th Five-Year Plan (2016 – 2020) has positioned the cultural industry as one of the key pillars of the national economy and highlighted the importance of the music industry’s development.

Backed by the government’s initiatives and astounding purchasing power of Chinese consumers, the country’s demand and expenditure on musical instruments will continue to grow.

According to a report from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), an advisory services provider, China will become a middle-class society by 2030.

The rising disposable income has also brought about a shift in consumption patterns from necessities to cultural activities such as learning musical instruments and attending arts classes. The market size of cultural activities is expected to grow to RMB 80 billion (approximately USD 11.6 billion) in 2018, according to data revealed by a Beijing-based research company, Zhi Yan Market Research Ltd.

In view of the expanding market potentials in China, one more exhibition hall has been added by fair organisers to accommodate the strong demand from various sectors.

Judy Cheung, deputy general manager of Messe Frankfurt (Shanghai) Co Ltd, elaborated: “Over the past 15 years, with the joint efforts from the organisers and support from the music industry, the fair continues to grow in scale and content to help exhibitors capture the emerging business opportunities. In response to the market trends and the strong requests from our industry peers, we have decided to further expand our show scale. This year, we will welcome an additional hall entirely dedicated to music education, as well as enlarged areas for bowed instruments and pianos.”

The early confirmation of numerous industry leading brands at Music China is a strong testimony of their confidence in the promising music market.

This year, the piano sector will occupy two halls with a strong line-up of international and reputable European brands including: Bluethner, Estonia, Fazioli, Petrof, Samick, Sauter, Schimmel, Seiler, Steinway, Yamaha and more.

The area for bowed instruments will also be expanded from one and a half halls to nearly two halls. These halls will highlight European traditional bow and string instruments and craftsmanship brought by a group of well-recognised Italian luthiers such as Andrea Schudtz, Grisales Violinmakers and Piccinotti Violins.

Other globally renowned brands which reserved booth space for the upcoming edition include: ABRSM, Alfred, BAM, Buffet, Casio, D’Addario, EKO, ESP, Fender, GEWA, Hsinghai, Ibanez, Jinbao, Kawai, LTD, Marshall, Medeli, Music Sales, Pearl River, Roland, Schott Music, Tama and Taylor.

Taylor Guitars, a leading global manufacturer of premium acoustic guitars from the US, is one of the loyal exhibitors and has been supporting Music China for years.

Andy Lund, export sales manager of Asia and South Pacific from the company, said: “It’s important for us to stay competitive in the industry and be seen by our customers. The show is a crucial platform to meet our end-users face to face and understand their needs.”

Apart from world-class exhibitors, Music China 2017 will once again feature 10 international pavilions and groups from Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, Taiwan and the UK. They are all geared up to present their unique strengths and state-of-the-art instruments from their respective regions.