By Sarah Szabo

Qingdao, China might not initially make your list of top cities to visit, but trust me – it should. Last week I had the opportunity to visit Qingdao for the 2008 SINOCES, China’s largest CE tradeshow. And as soon as I got to the city, I could immediately tell that the citizens take great pride in their town.

And with good reason. Qingdao is home to breathtaking scenery, beautiful beaches, the biggest beer brewery in China and major businesses, including CE manufacturers Haier and Hisense. And in just a few weeks Qingdao can add, “Home to the 2008 Olympic Sailing Regatta,” to its already impressive resume.

While it’s making worldwide news as host for the upcoming Olympic Games, many might not realize that China is becoming well-known for something else – it’s growing CE market. In fact, CEA and our research partner, Gfk, recently announced that by 2009 the Chinese CE industry will top $100 billion.

The 2008 SINOCES certainly mirrored the dynamic and explosive growth of the Chinese CE industry, and for companies looking to break into this booming market, SINOCES is the perfect launch pad. More than 70,000 attendees, traveling from around the world, were at the show to check out the latest products from 500 companies. Major players in the CE industry including Haier, HP and Dolby displayed their latest wares. The growing Chinese demand for consumer electronics creates huge new market opportunities for U.S. manufacturers to export their products to China.

As I walked through Qingdao, I couldn’t help but notice the impact consumer technology has on the city. Both Haier and Hisense pare major employers for local citizens. In fact, I had the opportunity to tour Haier’s facilities and the campus was incredible in size. As China continues to grow into a major force behind the CE industry, I can’t wait to see how SINOCES, and the city of Qingdao, flourish as this incredible marketplace soars.

As an added bonus, check out a few of my photos from the trip below!

2008 SINOCES Show Floor

City of Qingdao

Haier Campus

  Qingdao Market

Qingdao Market by the Water

CEA Delegation Following a Tour of Tsingdao Brewery

Popularity: 17% [?]

This entry was posted on Monday, July 21st, 2008 at 10:45 am and is filed under CEA Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.