At the Jungheinrich stand in CeMAT Asia 2007.

CeMAT Asia exhibitors are happy with the show this year, with many using it as an opportunity to showcase their products and distinguish their specialties from competitors.

Sang Tian, materials handling division manager of E-P Equipment Co Ltd, says the company exhibited its T-Series forklift and its full range of electric warehouse equipment.

Sang says visitors were attracted to E-P's two-year warranty for its forklifts.

"It's the first of its kind in China and gave our visitors confidence in our brand."

Sang thinks the quality of Chinese-made forklifts is approaching par with the world's leading forklift brands.

"[At the show] we saw high technology used in forklift design by companies like Linde and Toyota ... very attractive."

In the future, she says, Chinese forklift brands will be distinguished from the world's leading brands by their "reasonable price, reliability and simple technology" while the leading brands would continue advancing in ergonomics and their automotive-style technology.

Ellen Wu, Jungheinrich Lift Truck (Shanghai) Co Ltd's spokeswoman, says the German brand is still relatively unknown in China, so the company took advantage of the show to boost brand recognition.

"Since Jungheinrich set up its sales company in China in 2004, it is still unknown to most customers in China. We consider this year's CeMAT successful because we received very positive feedback from visitors.

"Our stand attracted many visitors from the tobacco industry, pharmaceuticals, logistics and machinery industry."

Linde China's marketing director Tee Seng Chuan

Linde (China) Forklift Truck Corp Ltd marketing director Tee Seng Chuan says visitors commented that his company's stand was the most interactive.

"Visitors felt that our 'box-type' booth design was creative and closely resembled the familiar materials handling goods shape."

While Tee says the show was a good platform for Linde to distinguish its products and services from its competitors, he thinks the quality of the show could improve if it was held every two or three years instead of annually.

Linde's main exhibit consisted of its E-gen twin trucks, 3-tonne diesel and electric forklifts. The company's service team was also present at the stand to demonstrate the company's technical support and service capabilities.

Linde's "interactive" stand at CeMAT Asia 2007.

Show organiser spokeswoman Elaine Yu from Hannover Fairs Shanghai Ltd tells Forkliftaction.com News more than half the exhibitors (58%) were from overseas and took up 53% of exhibiting space.

About 350 companies from 22 countries exhibited over an area of 23,000 square metres (247,570 square feet), including well-known Chinese and foreign forklift companies, Heli, Baoli, Tailift, HU-Lift, E-P, Toyota, Jungheinrich, Linde, Pyroban, Kalmar and Fantuzzi.

While show organisers tallied up 49,158 visitors at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre to visit PTC Asia, CeMAT Asia and CeBIT Asia held concurrently from October 10 to 13, no visitor details for separate shows are yet available.