"China Glass is of course a must-attend event for us".

Peter Oswald, Managing Director of BENTELER Glass Processing Equipment, talks about this year's China Glass Expo from 6th-9th May 2023, the company's activities in China and the importance of the East Asian market.

Dear Mr. Oswald, your company is participating in the China Glass Expo in Shanghai again this year. What do you expect from the trade show?

China Glass has become one of the most important international trade fairs for glass production and glass processing. This year 842 exhibitors from 23 countries are expected - for BENTELER Glass Processing Equipment of course a must-attend event. Together with twelve other German companies, we will present ourselves and our equipment in the German Pavilion from May 6 to 9 and will certainly have many good discussions and make contacts with customers from all over the world. The East Asian market - and especially the Chinese market - plays an important role for us, and the trend is increasing.

In the meantime, there are various industries that are increasingly focusing on the Chinese market. What about the glass industry and the demand for glass products, what are the special features in this area? And how do you assess the Chinese market?

The economic importance of China cannot be overestimated - the country represents the second largest economy in the world, with continued stable growth. And in the field of flat glass production, China is also experiencing strong production and sales growth. In September 2021, the capacity of active production lines was 197,600 tons per day! Many of the Chinese glass processors rely on our machines.

A crucial point for us as a plant manufacturer in the field of glass processing: the demand for flat glass in China is unbrokenly high, especially regarding our three core areas, automotive glass, architectural glass and technical glass. This year's auto show in Shanghai showed that China is setting an impressive pace, especially in the production of e-cars - just think of the Chinese car manufacturer BYD. It also has the largest market when it comes to construction; after all, China is the country with the world's highest growth in urban population. And let's not forget: Around 80 percent of the world's solar industry production capacity is located in China. All this means that our systems - both imported and locally manufactured - and our know-how in the field of glass processing are naturally attracting a great deal of interest there.

What can you tell us about the specific activities of BENTELER Glass Processing Equipment in China?

I think that we at BENTELER recognized the potential of the East Asian and Chinese market quite early on. Since 2002, we have had our own local subsidiary, in Shanghai, and have already been able to sell more than 400 machines there. For example, one of the leading flat glass producers in China, SYP Glass, relies on our washing machines. We developed the Tec-Washer Compact together with our Chinese customer GKN Aerospace - directly tailored to the production requirements and customer wishes there: Made by BENTELER in China for China. The same applies to the Convertible Washer.

In this respect, we are quite optimistic about the China Glass Expo and the challenges of the Chinese market and hope that we can further expand our partnerships there.

We are looking forward to the exchange and meetings at our booth 116, in hall N1 at the Shanghai New International Expo Center.