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The exhibition is widely acknowledged as being the primary footwear event in China, with a very high degree of international participation.  As usual it is run concurrently, and under the same roof, with both the All China Leather Exhibition (ACLE).  The three important exhibitions will, collectively, allow over 1,000 exhibitors the opportunity to promote their companies.  About two-thirds of the exhibitors are from overseas.

It is impossible to underestimate the future expansion of the China footwear manufacturing industry.  Back in 1999 alone, the estimated output of 5,930 million pairs of shoes made China the largest producer in the world, accounting for no less than 53 percent of global shoe production.  Next year, 2006, that figure will have risen to 55 percent.

 And that is only part of the story. In the first half of this year China exported footwear to the value of USD8.5 billion (yes, billion).  That represented an increase of 24 percent over the previous year.  Imports of footwear into China were a healthy USD97 million.  Obviously a lot less than was exported but - watch this - that figure was a massive 74 percent up on 2004.  The rate of increase should give heart to all those looking to supply the domestic China market.

China joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in June, 2004.  Deutsche Bank predicted the following five years would witness an annual growth in shoe production of around 20 percent.

At present there are around 16,000 businesses and two million people involved in leather enterprises and these figures exclude operations with sales income below RMB 1 million (US$125,000). Of the 16,000 businesses, 7,200 are shoe manufacturers, among them producing a staggering 5 billion pairs a year. This breaks down as leather shoes: 2.3 billion pairs; cloth shoes 1.5 billion ; rubber shoes 1.2 billion pairs. Most of them are produced in Guangdong, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangsu, Shandong, Shanghai, Liaoning, Tianjin, Henan and Hubei.

It is thought that within five years the less prosperous western regions of China will become the production base for low-end shoes while the eastern and southern areas will concentrate on higher quality production.

To be effective in ensuring that such a large and diverse industry is properly served CIFF is the pooling of expertise by exhibition organisers Asia Pacific Leather Fair Ltd (APLF) and the China Leather Industry Association (CLIA)

Madam Zhang Shu Hua, the Vice President of the CLIA, said "Chinese footwear production is not only the biggest in the world, but also has design capabilities which compare very favourably with much of the best from Europe and elsewhere. Most importantly global consumers today  ¡Vboth professional and retail end-users - are well aware that they can rely on Chinese manufacturers for their footwear needs and for their flexibility in presenting exciting new trends."

Michael Duck, Director of APLF said " From the launch of the All China Leather Exhibition in Beijing in 1998, it has been our intention to expand the content of ACLE as we have done successfully in Hong Kong with the Asia Pacific Leather Fair since 1994. We believe that with our partners the CLIA whose remit encompasses the whole China leather industry production, this launch will give a new platform for international buyers of Chinese manufactured footwear products to have a definitive place to meet and to do business. China is an enormous country and Shanghai is internationally well known as the commercial and fashion capital of China."