Washington, DC —The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) signed an agreement last week with a major Chinese trade association that will bring its members – who are product manufacturers for the residential construction industry — to the annual NAHB International Builders’ Show (IBS) in January 2013 in Las Vegas.
The agreement was announced at a formal signing ceremony April 19 at the Ceramics China 2012 trade show in Foshan, China. On hand were officials from the China Building Ceramics & Sanitaryware Association and NAHB’s Immediate Past Chairman Bob Nielsen and Mark Pursell, NAHB senior vice president for exhibitions, marketing and sales.
“In China, most residential construction uses tile and ceramics,” Pursell told Trade Show Executive. “Over the last two years, we’ve strategically focused on international growth in specific countries, with China being one of them. Doing business with the Chinese is a long-term proposition, and we hope this is just the beginning.”
IBS, which ranked No. 24 on the 2011 TSE Gold 100, attracted 55,212 attendees and 1,205 exhibitors covering 495,425 nsf in 2010. “Since the recession, the show has decreased dramatically in size, but this year’s show reported an uptick in attendance of nearly 10%,” said Pursell.
In 2012, IBS featured 15 Chinese exhibiting companies among its 100 international exhibitors. The total number of exhibiting companies was 900. “We are hoping to increase this number for 2013, and we are planning to have a section with tile companies at the next show,” said Pursell. NAHB is also working with a Chinese company to sell exhibit space.
“This agreement is a big win for both organizations,” Nielsen said. “The China Building Ceramics & Sanitaryware Association is one of the most important building product groups in the world. By joining NAHB’s annual exhibition, its members get access to the premier residential construction trade show in America, and people attending the IBS will have the opportunity to see a greater range of products than they can see at any other residential building trade show in the U.S.”
Reach Mark at (202) 266-8477 or mpursell@nahb.com
