The phenomenal progress of China’s leading leather exhibition -- All China Leather Exhibition or ACLE can be seen from its growth in terms of both visitors and exhibitors since its inception in 1998.

In last year’s edition some 1,424 exhibitors were joined by 24,233 buyers from the main leather manufacturing provinces of China, many buying missions from multinational companies seeking new products and suppliers plus a host of international visitors from across the globe. The upcoming 17th edition is due to be held at the New International Expo Centre in Pudong, Shanghai, from September 3 – 5, 2014.

As the leading commercial and business platform for the leather industry in Mainland China, ACLE has kept pace with the times and changes in the rapid and dynamic expansion of the leather industry in China this century.

To quote APLF Director, Michael Duck, on this point: “The constant expansion of the fair is a direct result of the response by the China market’s growth and hence need for quality materials, chemicals and technology. It is the success story of ACLE as it has succeeded in introducing suppliers from a growing number of countries to leather goods and footwear manufacturers located in Mainland China.”

With fashion being the main driver behind innovation, styles and in the use of leather, ACLE has played a key role in introducing high class leather from China for luxury products and automotive applications in China where the number of world class tanneries has increased in number.

With China being the world’s biggest auto market by far, selling more than 23 million vehicles in 2013, 40% of which have some form of leather upholstery, this amounts to a great deal of hides and finished leather -- and this is without even mentioning the billions of pairs of leather shoes and leather goods produced in the country.

As the major consumer and producer of leather as well as being the biggest importer of hides, semi-finished and wet blue it was a question of time until the government of China would enforce strict rules and regulations for the tanning industry in order to protect the environment. This has now come to pass with the closing of many smaller tanneries in northern China, in Hebei and Wuxi, until they are able to comply with strict environmental standards.

On the other hand, the closure of tanneries in China also means that less finished leather will be produced in China (after last year’s 23% drop according to the CLIA) opening up an even greater opportunity for western tanneries to export more high value-added finished leather to the Chinese manufacturing sector. This is precisely where ACLE comes into its own as the ideal business platform for the international and China leather industry.

The potential activity bubbling under the surface is clearly reflected in the growing size of ACLE which will cover a record 92,000 square metres for the 2014 event in seven halls at the New Expo Centre in Pudong.

There will be 19 national pavilions from all corners of the globe at the 2014 event. Many major chemical companies serving the China market have confirmed their space requirement. In fact, as of mid-May, 90% of the exhibition space in the international halls had had been sold with a few spaces left in the domestic halls.

To ensure that ACLE and its concurrent sister fair the China International Footwear Fair (CIFF) and Moda Shanghai held in Hall E4 of the exhibition centre can take place in a fully professional atmosphere, there is a full programme of information oriented events. This integral aspect of ACLE defines it as not only by being a trade fair but also as a destination where a full programme of seminars, forums, fashion shows and demonstrations about leather as well as other pertinent topics such as the environment and sustainability, the pros and cons of future processes. These events remain big crowd pullers.

The Tannery of the Year Competition, organised by World Leather and supported by APLF will have its award presentation ceremony and gala dinner that is held every eighteen months at ACLE this year. The overall winner will be chosen from the regional winners from Europe, the Americas, Asia and China. One of China’s leading tanneries, Prime Asia, was the overall winner of the Tannery of the Year Competition in 2013.

The number of buyers to ACLE has grown steadily over the years and has breached 24,000 for the first time at the 2013 event. The Organisers endeavour to maintain these standards through effective sales and marketing activities to ensure that both exhibitors and visitors coming to this leading leather event find what they are looking for -- professional buyers for the exhibitors and a wide range of leather and leather products for the professional buyers.

On a more personal level there are many influential VIP buyers invited specially to the event and who have access to the comfort of the VIP Buyers Lounge. Although there is a predominance of buyers from Mainland China, attendance is very international as many footwear brands and multinational companies source and produce in China and have their local sourcing teams attending the fair.

What Participants said about the 2013 ACLE event...

What Buyers said...

"We had the opportunity to meet many raw material suppliers in ACLE. I am satisfied with the product variety and the numbers of exhibitors. The products here are more standardised and we feel secure to source here."

- Wang Tonggang, Chocowin, China

"I have visited the fair over five times and continue to feel satisfied with the number of exhibitors and product variety."

- Mr. Chao, Shanghai Doutai Trading Co Ltd, China

"This is my first time to All China Leather Exhibition. Compared with Guangzhou, Shanghai can attract exhibitors from all over China, making it more convenient for me to make a purchase."

- Jack Zhang, Yi Neng Da Leather Ltd / Yi Yi Da Leather Ltd, China

"We used to visit ACLE every year. However, this is our first time exhibiting at the fair and we are surprised to meet many visitors. The venue is convenient and we will recommend this fair to our partners."

- Michael Smith, Tangsmith Enterprise Pty Ltd, Australia

"This is our first time as an exhibitor of Moda Shanghai but we have been a regular visitor of ACLE for many years. Our finished products received very good feedback and we met a lot of potential buyers."

- Henry Wong, Kaleigh Polle Ltd, Hong Kong

"We have exhibited in ACLE for more than 10 years. We have received many queries year after year and we have met many of our important customers in this exhibition."

- Mehmet Osman Bataray, Tess, Turkey