The lighting industry fair attracts visitors from around the world. Photos Provided To China Daily

The town Guzhen was officially named "China's lighting capital" by the China National Light Industry Council and the China Lighting Industry Association in 2002.

The 11th China (Guzhen) International Lighting & LED Applications Fair, which will run from Oct 18 to 21, will help the Pearl River Delta boomtown of Guzhen to achieve its goal of growing into a global lighting hub in the foreseeable future.

A total of 594 firms, including some from abroad, had confirmed their attendance by early October, and about 2,300 exhibition booths have been booked, according to the fair's organizing committee.

Total exhibition area will reach 40,000 square meters.

The city government of Zhongshan, where Guzhen lies, is cosponsoring the event along with the China Lighting Association and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade's light industry council.

The township government of Guzhen, which is widely known as "China's lighting capital", will join forces with the Zhongshan Economy and IT Bureau as well as the Lighting Capital Exhibition (Zhongshan) Co Ltd to manage the event.

The fair will continue to highlight LED applications, according to organizers.

More than 200 LED companies have booked more than 800 booths to show off their latest solutions, and LED enterprises account for 40 percent of all the confirmed exhibitors.

The organizing committee will also hold an exhibition of the shortlisted works of the China International Lighting Design Awards and select highlights from the fair's exhibits in addition to hosting a series of related seminars and forums.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the township's official designation as "China's lighting capital", and the local government will hold a series of ceremonial activities to supplement the fair, said Ou Jinhui, director of Guzhen township government's publicity office.

Ou said that the activities will include ceremonies to celebrate the launch of a national demonstration base for a new model of industrialization, the launch of the Guangdong Lighting Fixture International Procurement Center and to award "loyal exhibitors".

Guzhen earned the honor of "China's lighting capital" named by the China National Light Industry Council and the China Lighting Industry Association in 2002 thanks to its well-developed lighting industrial chain, its substantial industrial output, its lion's share of the lighting market worldwide and its status in China and abroad.

The township's lighting sector churned out an industrial output of about 18 billion yuan ($2.86 billion) in 2011. Its products account for more than 60 percent of the domestic market and have found market in more than 130 countries and regions, official statistics indicate.

According to local officials, holding the annual event is a crucial part of the township's blueprint to grow into a global lighting hub with strong competitiveness in marketing, technology and innovation.

"We expect the hub to take shape by the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015)," Ou said.

The township aims to realize an annual business turnover of more than 40 billion yuan by 2015 and to have a couple of nationally or even globally renowned companies, each of which is capable of realizing an annual sales volume of more than 5 billion yuan.

The township also expects to have 30 firms capable of raking in business turnover of more than 100 million yuan each by then.

Guzhen now has more than 3,600 enterprises manufacturing lighting fixtures, more than 2,500 companies involved in related wholesale and retail business as well as more than 3,700 companies involved in different segments of the lighting-related industrial chain, including component supply, plastics supply, packaging, printing and logistics.

zhanlisheng@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 10/15/2012 page5)