UBM Sinoexpo and Guzhen Town Government to Set Up a New Company to Organise the China (Guzhen) International Lighting Fair

SHANGHAI, Sept. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Shanghai UBM Sinoexpo International Exhibition Co Ltd (UBM Sinoexpo), one of UBM Asia's joint venture companies in China, signs a cooperation agreement today with the Guzhen Town Government of Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province to form a new joint venture company to manage the operation of the China (Guzhen) International Lighting Fair and thereby, further promoting the development of the local exhibition industry.

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The agreement was signed today by Mr. Cheng Guanqiu, Deputy Director, Finance Bureau of Guzhen Town, Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province and Mr. Wang Mingliang, Founder and Director of UBM Sinoexpo. Also present at the signing ceremony were senior representatives from Guzhen National State-owned Asset Management Office and Mr. David Levin, CEO of UBM plc. together with Mr. Jime Essink, President & CEO of UBM Asia.

Launched in 1999, the Guzhen Lighting Fair has earned a strong reputation as one of the most professional lighting exhibitions in China. The Fair attracted over 600 exhibiting companies and 64,000 professional visitors from 103 countries and regions in 2012.

The Lighting Fair is one of the driving forces contributing to the rapid development of the lighting industry in Guzhen which is renowned as "China's Lighting Capital". There are around 8,000 manufacturers and 4,000 sales and production related companies in Guzhen, making it not only a mega centre for specialised lighting, but also the biggest manufacturing base and sales centre in China that distributes lighting products to all over the world.

Mr. Wei Hongrui, the Mayor of Guzhen Town, said: "UBM Sinoexpo is a well-known and influential exhibition company with a history of over 20 years and a portfolio of large scale exhibitions, having managed a total of over 660,000 square metres of gross exhibition space in 2012. We believe that UBM Sinoexpo's expertise, their professional team and modern enterprise development and management will play an important role in the development of the Guzhen lighting fair for now and in the future. Therefore, we will set up a professional management committee to coordinate the functions of the various government departments, the lighting markets, the representatives of the mainstream companies in this industry together to build the lighting fair into a one-million square metre event. Guzhen is the world's largest lighting market and we hope that by working with UBM Sinoexpo, the Guzhen Lighting Fair will grow to become the world's largest and most influential trade exhibition and Guzhen will become a global lighting industry hub. I am confident about the prospects for this bilateral cooperation."

Mr. Wang Mingliang, Founder and Director of UBM Sinoexpo, said: "As a professional exhibition organising company, we have successful experience of working with industry associations to take their events to the next level. Take Furniture China as an example. We have been working closely with China National Furniture Association for over 20 years on Furniture China which has grown from a 3,000 square metre show into a mega international exhibition of 350,000 square metres. This model will also work successfully for Guzhen's lighting fair."

UBM Sinoexpo and the Guzhen government have started on the promotion of the 12th International Lighting Fair & LED Application Exhibition to be held from 18 - 21 October 2013 in the new Lighting Capital (Guzhen) Conference & Exhibition Center and in three lighting marts, providing a total exhibition area of 250,000 square metres. Organised by the Government of Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, China Association of Lighting Industry and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the 2013 Fair is expected to welcome 1,000 exhibitors.

Notes to Editors

1.    About UBM Asia (www.ubmasia.com)
Owned by UBM plc listed on the London Stock Exchange, UBM Asia is Asia's leading exhibition organiser and the biggest commercial organiser in mainland China, India and Malaysia. Established with its headquarters in Hong Kong and subsidiary companies across Asia and in the US, UBM Asia has a strong global presence in 25 major cities with 30 offices and over 1,400 staff.

With a track record spanning over 30 years, UBM Asia operates in 21 market sectors with 160 dynamic face-to-face exhibitions, 75 high-level professional conferences, 28 targeted trade publications, 18 round-the-clock vertical portals and virtual event services for over 1,000,000 quality exhibitors, visitors, conference delegates, advertisers and subscribers from all over the world. We provide a one-stop diversified global service for high-value business matching, quality market news and online trading networks.

UBM Asia has extensive office networks in China, Southeast Asia and India, three of the world's fastest growing B2B events markets. UBM China has 11 offices in the major cities in mainland China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Chengdu and Shenzhen, where we organise more than 60 exhibitions and conferences. In ASEAN, UBM Asia operates from its offices in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines with over 50 events in this region. UBM India teams in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad organise 20 exhibitions and 60 conferences every year across the country.

2.      About UBM plc (www.ubm.com)
UBM plc is a global events-led marketing services and communications company.  We help businesses do business, bringing the world's buyers and sellers together at events and online, as well as producing and distributing news and specialist content.  Our 5,500 staff in more than 30 countries are organised into expert teams which serve commercial and professional communities, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently.

For more information, go to www.ubm.com; follow us on Twitter at @UBM_plc to get the latest UBM corporate news.

For press enquiries, please contact:

Jennifer Law, Director of Corporate Marketing & Communications, UBM Asia
Tel: +852-2516-1691
Fax: +852-3749-7342
Email: Jennifer.Law@ubm.com

Vicky Cheung, Senior Corporate Marketing & Communications Executive, UBM Asia
Tel: +852-2516-1679
Fax: +852-3749-7342
Email: Vicky.Cheung@ubm.com