Betreff:bauma China 2008 - expecting a positive development in Road- and tunnel-construction machinery section

bauma China 2008 – expecting a positive development in Road- and tunnel-construction machinery section

Each year the People’s Republic of China is expanding its network of motorways by over 4,000 kilometres, say the experts. According to the Chinese Transport Ministry, around 55,000 kilometres of new motorway will have been built by 2010 alone. It´s an impressive undertaking, especially since China only started building motorways in 1988, the first section being between Shanghai and Jiading. But this is not just happening in China, all over Asia new roads – and also tunnels – are springing up at a fast pace. The next bauma China, which takes place for the fourth time in Shanghai from 25 to 28 November 2008, is also reflecting this rapid expansion – the space covered by the exhibition has significantly increased to 188,000 square metres, and the event is being accompanied by a programme spanning a broad variety of themes.

The dynamic pace of growth in China is also reflected in the activities of the ADB, the Asian Development Bank. So far around 7 billion US dollars of loans have been granted for the expansion of the road infrastructure in China. And last year for the first time, the ADB gave 200 million US dollars of funding to a subsidiary road-building project in the north-eastern province of Heilongjiang.

Not only Shanghai and Beijing, but also many other Asian metropolises are fast-tracking road and tunnel construction programmes to keep pace with rising demand. In May this year, in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, the brand new 5.4 km long SMART Tunnel was opened for use. This tunnel, a triple-level construction with a diameter of 13 metres, has two decks for cars and one deck for water overflow. This design not only provides urgently needed extra capacity, it also copes with the annual monsoon rains.

Against this background, interest at bauma China 2008 is expected to focus strongly on both road-construction machinery – pavement millers, rolling mill engines, concrete and asphalt pavers, mobile asphalt and concrete mixers, etc – and on machinery for tunnel driving. bauma China 2008 takes place at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC).

Since the end of last year the two biggest tunnel-driving machines so far produced (with a diameter of 15.43 metres) have been in action in Shanghai. Two 7.47-kilometer-long car tunnels are being built under the Yangtze, from the district of Pudong. These tunnels, and a bridge, will link the conurbation of Shanghai to the river island Changxing in time for the World Expo in 2010. The project to drive the two tunnels involves excavating around 2.7 million cubic metres of earth. According to Frauke Kraas, Professor of Human Geography at the University of Cologne, “Shanghai…. has been completely reorganised in the last 25 years. Only very little is still left of what it looked like before China´s policy of opening up started in 1978.”

For the first six months of 2007 gross domestic product (GDP) in the Peoples´ Republic of China grew by 11.5 percent, according to official statistics. This figure represents a rise of 0.5 percent above the GDP for the same period last year. An attractive location and the effects of the Chinese boom are also boosting growth and prosperity in other countries in Asia. Above all the future of the smaller countries is closely linked to the future development of China. According to a study by the German Office for Foreign Trade (Bundesagentur für Außenwirtschaft – bfai) the individual countries can be divided into two groups. On the one hand there are the developing countries with a high rate of growth in building and construction, and good long-term development potential. These include the Peoples´ Republic of China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Less dynamic, but with a lower level of risk, according to the bfai, are the economies of the already highly developed markets of Japan, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong.

In view of the successful experience with bauma China so far, the organiser Messe München International (MMI) is expecting a similarly positive development in exhibitor and visitors numbers at the event in 2008. Exhibitor numbers at bauma China in 2006, for example, were up 47 percent on the previous event in 2004, and visitor numbers were up by 60 percent. The proportion of visitors from outside China was very high – 17,000 out of a total of 80,000. Most visitors came from the key foreign markets, among them India, Japan, Korea and Russia.

In 2008 the 4th International Trade Fair for Construction Machinery, Building Material Machines, Construction Vehicles and Equipment will be presenting a comprehensive cross-section of the global industry, on a greatly expanded exhibition area of 188,000 square metres.

www.bauma-china.com

About bauma China
bauma China 2006, which attracted over 80,000 trade fair visitors from all regions of China and from all continents, is the most successful and the most important trade fair for the construction and building-materials industries in Asia. In 2006, a total of 1088 exhibitors presented the complete range of construction and building-materials machinery on an area of 150,000 m² at one of the most modern trade fair centres in Asia, the Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC).

About Messe München International (MMI)

Messe München International (MMI, Munich Trade Fairs International Group) is one of the world´s leading trade-fair companies. It organises around 40 trade fairs for capital and consumer goods, and key high-tech industries. Each year over 30,000 exhibitors from more than 100 countries, and over two million visitors from more than 200 countries take part in the events in Munich. In addition, MMI organises trade fairs in Asia, Russia, the Middle East and South America. With six subsidiaries abroad - in Europe and in Asia - and with 66 foreign representatives serving 89 countries, MMI has a truly global network.

Press Contact:

Henrike Burmeister, Communication Manager

Messe München GmbH

Tel. (+49 89) 949-20 245, Fax (+49 89) 949-20249

Henrike.Burmeister@messe-muenchen.de                             

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