Chinese exhibitors find success at Labelexpo Europe

Among these Chinese exhibitors – over half, 81 – were exhibiting at Labelexpo Europe for the first time. These included Flora, Hongsheng, iFiN, KingT, Jwei, Jindali, Caisheng, Youhua, IECHO, Dangs, Yozho and Furi.

Many Chinese exhibitors view Lablexpo Europe as the launchpad for Western markets, while others were exposed to the event through other Labelexpo platforms. Several companies signed up for more global events, as the Chinese exhibitors showcase their technology on a worldwide platform.

PRINTING PRESSES

During Labelexpo Europe 2023, Chinese conventional press supplier exhibitors included Weigang, Zonten, Wanjie, Label Source, Caisheng, Nickel, AKO and Hontec.

Weigang, one of China’s leading conventional press manufacturers, has installed 2,800 ZX intermittent offset series and 380 ZJR flexo series presses in the label printing industry.

Spring Xu, international sales manager of Weigang tells L&L: ‘Weigang is a loyal follower of Labelexpo. This is our seventh time attending Labelexpo Europe and the result is that export orders now represent 25‐30 percent of the company’s business. Our presses have been exported to more than 80 countries across Europe, America, Africa, Australia, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.’

Another seven‐time exhibitor is Zonten, which exhibited its latest Multi Print 340/520 and Multi Conver 370 at the show. Overseas orders now account for fully 40 percent of the company’s business.

Wanjie’s Flexless intermittent flexo press series, launched in 2022, debuted at Labelexpo Europe 2023. During the show, Italian label converter Verprint srl ordered this machine, which is its second Wanjei press to expand production capacity.

Label Source launched its F6 flexo press at the show. Li Xiangheng, president of Label Source says: ‘At present, our exports in the European and American markets are not much. We hope to find more like‐minded partners and customers through this exhibition.’

First‐time exhibitor Caisheng showed the latest CS‐JQ350G‐6C letterpress machine, which has two working modes, intermittent and full rotary mode.

‘We have attended Labelexpo Asia many times. This is our first time attending Labelexpo Europe. We are very happy to choose this biggest show in the label printing industry as the first launch platform for this new machine,’ says Li Kangwen, CEO of Caisheng.

Other conventional press suppliers include Nickel, which exhibited its FS350 interment offset press and AKO unveiled its α‐series inline flexo press. Hontec launched its first flexo press, the Ultimate‐350/460 flexo press. Until now, Hontec has mainly produced finishing machines.

Chinese digital press suppliers including Flora, Pulisi, HanGlobal and KingT also exhibited at Labelexpo Europe 2023.

Flora launched its J‐450 Pro hybrid press. The Flora J‐450 prints in up to six colors at up to 60m/min with a maximum print resolution of 1200 x 600dpi. It can be integrated with pre‐coating, cold stamping, flexo printing and other processing modules.

‘Since its launch in 2017, the Flora series of digital label presses have won wide acclaim from users around the world,’ says Sunney Lee, overseas sales manager of Flora. We have already installed 100 machines, and now we want to explore the overseas market.’

Flora has now attended Labelexpo Americas, Labelexpo Asia, Labelexpo Southeast Asia and Labelexpo Mexico. ‘We trust this platform and want to develop further our business with the Labelexpo Global Series,’ says Lee.

Pulisi launched its Aobead multi‐ functional digital press. Aobead is equipped with multiple hybrid modules including front flexo primer, 7‐color (CMYK+white/ orange/varnish) digital engine, cold foil stamping and inspection.

‘Since its official release in 2021, this is our first opportunity to show our digital press in the European market. This Aobead is a customized high‐end version we configured specially for this exhibition,’ Olive Liu, general manager of Pulisi says.

HanGlobal unveiled its LabStar330S Hybrid, which combines 7‐color digital printing, with flexo, cold foil stamping, lamination and die‐cutting. Earlier this year, HanGlobal set up a new sales company called HanLabel with Chinese flexo press supplier Label Source. This new machine will be sold globally through their respective sales networks.

First‐time exhibitor, KingT showed its new generation of industrial‐grade digital label press, the L‐Press 330s, at Labelexpo Europe. This is the company’s first digital press developed for the label market. The group has more than 13 years of experience in inkjet printing technology in the packaging, corrugated, textile printing and advertising fields.

FINISHING MACHINES

Post‐press equipment manufacturers including Brotech, Rhyguan, Reborn, Hontec, Daba, Jwei, Denchern, Iecho, Jinyun, Darui and Jindali all exhibited at Labelexpo Europe 2023.

Two Brotech finishing systems were sold at the show by the company’s India distributor Weldon Celloplast: a CDF 420 to Asean Pack in Ahmedabad and a DL‐420 to Chromaprint in Coimbatore.

Rhyguan showed finishing machines for different market applications, such as the Plus 330 smart converter. According to Alvin Cai, CEO of Rhyguan group, this is their fifth time attending Lablexpo Europe, and today, one‐half of all machines are exported to overseas markets, including Europe, the United States, South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam and Australia.

First‐time exhibitor Jwei showed its RSF‐330 converter for the label market, equipped with an auto‐registration system.

‘We first attended Labelexpo Asia, then discovered this global platform,’ says Waylon Wang, sales manager of Jwei. ‘We attended Labelexpo Southeast Asia in Thailand and the effect amazed us. This time we want to find a new agency for the European market.’

First‐time exhibitor Darui China launched its new generation of laser label die‐cutting machines at Labelexpo Europe. ‘This is our first time exploring the European market to promote this new machine, and we are very optimistic about the potential of this region,’ says Alice Yang, general manager for overseas sales of Darui China. They are also looking for agents in Europe.

Iecho is another new face at Labelexpo Europe. They showed an LCT350 laser die‐cutter. ‘We launched this machine in 2022. This time we want to find agencies for this new machine,’ says Xu, sales manager of Iecho.

Another laser die‐cutting supplier is Jinyun. Nichelle Wang, its Europe regional manager, shares: ‘This is the most successful show we have attended, ever better than Labelexpo Europe 2019. The professionalism and number of visitors far exceeded our expectations.’

This was the second Labelexpo Europe for non‐stop unwinder and rewinder solutions supplier DYM, ‘The last time we did not bring equipment. This year we showed our latest HAU‐450 onsite and we have added a number of new customers in the European market,’ says Cai Yefu, managing director of DYM.

First‐time exhibitor Jindali showed its latest shrink sleeve seaming machine S300.

This machine runs at 450m/min max speed and handles a wide range of materials including PVC, PETG and OPS.

‘We know Labelexpo from our business partner HP,’ says Wu Yilin, GM of Jindali. ‘We were amazed by the effect of Labelexpo Asia 2019, which motivated our participation at Labelexpo Europe. We want to find some agencies to further explore this market.’

MATERIALS

Materials suppliers accounted for the largest proportion of Chinese exhibitors at Labelexpo Europe 2023. In addition to multi‐time exhibitors such as Fuzhou, Jinda, Lecco, Guanhao, Dragon Foil, Zhuoli, Soontomax, first‐time exhibitors included iFiN, Youhua, Dangs, Qingdao Focue paper, Yushi Packaging, HSF, Yinjinda, Piaozhihua, Yozho and TNME. Their products on display cover a variety of self‐adhesive materials, facestock, release liner, ribbons, foil, adhesives and silicone.

‘We started to participate at Labelexpo Europe in 2005 and without interruption. With this platform, we explored our overseas business. Now the European market accounts for more than half of our overseas market,’ says Leo Deng, sales director of Jinda.

Dangs is a specialist paper supplier. ‘This is our first time to attend a show in the label industry. The effect is fantastic. We want to explore the European and American markets through this platform,’ says Bill Lian, sales manager of Dangs. They have booked the next Labelexpo Europe 2025 in Barcelona.

Jack Chen, the founder and CEO of iFiN, has been in the label industry for more than 15 years. ‘I know Labelexpo from my previous company. This is the most professional show in this industry. After setting up my own company, I’m sure to launch new products and find new customers here,’ shares Chen.

Foil supplier Yushi Packaging participated in Labelexpo Asia many times before deciding to exhibit for the first time at Labelexpo Europe. The company has already booked into Labelexpo Europe 2025 and Labelexpo Americas 2024.

Founded in 2020, Youhua is a new brand company in the PS label material market. ‘With the increasing competition in our domestic market, we want to explore the overseas market for new development opportunities. During this Europe show, we also met many visitors from South America and Mexico,’ shares Leo, sales manager of Youhua. They also attended Labelexpo Mexico earlier this year.

Yozho has focused on the silicone industry for more than 20 years and their business is concentrated in the domestic market. ‘We know our competitors like Elkem, Dow attend this show. Now we think it’s time for us to explore overseas markets,’ the company shares.

HSF is a regular customer of Labelexpo Asia and Americas. Its first European attendance motivated them to book Labelexpo Southeast Asia in Thailand.

Qingdao Focue Paper found out about the Labelexpo Global Series from its customers in Latin America. This led them to attend the first Labelexpo Mexico show and now Labelexpo Europe 2023.