Each year the People’s Republic of China is expanding
its network of motorways by over 4,000 kilometres, say the experts.
According to the Chinese Transport Ministry, around 55,000 kilometres
of new motorway will have been built by 2010 alone. It´s an
impressive undertaking, especially since China only started building
motorways in 1988, the first section being between Shanghai and
Jiading. But this is not just happening in China, all over Asia new
roads – and also tunnels – are springing up at a fast pace.
The next bauma China, which takes place for the fourth time in Shanghai
from 25 to 28 November 2008, is also reflecting this rapid expansion
– the space covered by the exhibition has significantly increased
to 188,000 square metres, and the event is being accompanied by a
programme spanning a broad variety of themes.
The dynamic pace of growth in China is also reflected in the
activities of the ADB, the Asian Development Bank. So far around 7
billion US dollars of loans have been granted for the expansion of the
road infrastructure in China. And last year for the first time, the ADB
gave 200 million US dollars of funding to a subsidiary road-building
project in the north-eastern province of Heilongjiang.
Not only Shanghai and Beijing, but also many other Asian
metropolises are fast-tracking road and tunnel construction programmes
to keep pace with rising demand. In May this year, in the Malaysian
capital of Kuala Lumpur, the brand new 5.4 km long SMART Tunnel was
opened for use. This tunnel, a triple-level construction with a
diameter of 13 metres, has two decks for cars and one deck for water
overflow. This design not only provides urgently needed extra capacity,
it also copes with the annual monsoon rains.
Against this background, interest at bauma China 2008 is expected to
focus strongly on both road-construction machinery – pavement
millers, rolling mill engines, concrete and asphalt pavers, mobile
asphalt and concrete mixers, etc – and on machinery for tunnel
driving. bauma China 2008 takes place at the Shanghai New International
Expo Centre (SNIEC).
Since the end of last year the two biggest
tunnel-driving machines so far produced (with a diameter of 15.43
metres) have been in action in Shanghai. Two 7.47-kilometer-long car
tunnels are being built under the Yangtze, from the district of Pudong.
These tunnels, and a bridge, will link the conurbation of Shanghai to
the river island Changxing in time for the World Expo in 2010. The
project to drive the two tunnels involves excavating around 2.7 million
cubic metres of earth. According to Frauke Kraas, Professor of Human
Geography at the University of Cologne, “Shanghai…. has
been completely reorganised in the last 25 years. Only very little is
still left of what it looked like before China´s policy of
opening up started in 1978.
For the first six months of 2007 gross domestic product (GDP) in the
Peoples´ Republic of China grew by 11.5 percent, according to
official statistics. This figure represents a rise of 0.5 percent above
the GDP for the same period last year. An attractive location and the
effects of the Chinese boom are also boosting growth and prosperity in
other countries in Asia. Above all the future of the smaller countries
is closely linked to the future development of China. According to a
study by the German Office for Foreign Trade (Bundesagentur für
Außenwirtschaft – bfai) the individual countries can be
divided into two groups. On the one hand there are the developing
countries with a high rate of growth in building and construction, and
good long-term development potential. These include the Peoples´
Republic of China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and
Vietnam. Less dynamic, but with a lower level of risk, according to the
bfai, are the economies of the already highly developed markets of
Japan, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong.
In view of the successful experience with bauma China so far, the
organiser Messe München International (MMI) is expecting a
similarly positive development in exhibitor and visitors numbers at the
event in 2008. Exhibitor numbers at bauma China in 2006, for example,
were up 47 percent on the previous event in 2004, and visitor numbers
were up by 60 percent. The proportion of visitors from outside China
was very high – 17,000 out of a total of 80,000. Most visitors
came from the key foreign markets, among them India, Japan, Korea and
Russia.
In 2008 the 4th International Trade Fair for Construction Machinery,
Building Material Machines, Construction Vehicles and Equipment will be
presenting a comprehensive cross-section of the global industry, on a
greatly expanded exhibition area of 188,000 square metres.
About bauma China
bauma
China 2006, which attracted over 80,000 trade fair visitors from all
regions of China and from all continents, is the most successful and
the most important trade fair for the construction and
building-materials industries in Asia. In 2006, a total of 1088
exhibitors presented the complete range of construction and
building-materials machinery on an area of 150,000 m² at one of
the most modern trade fair centres in Asia, the Shanghai New
International Expo Center (SNIEC).
About Messe München International (MMI)
Messe
München International (MMI, Munich Trade Fairs International
Group) is one of the world´s leading trade-fair companies. It
organises around 40 trade fairs for capital and consumer goods, and key
high-tech industries. Each year over 30,000 exhibitors from more than
100 countries, and over two million visitors from more than 200
countries take part in the events in Munich. In addition, MMI organises
trade fairs in Asia, Russia, the Middle East and South America. With
six subsidiaries abroad - in Europe and in Asia - and with 66 foreign
representatives serving 89 countries, MMI has a truly global network.
Press Contact:
Henrike Burmeister, Communication Manager
Messe München GmbH
Tel. (+49 89) 949-20 245, Fax (+49 89) 949-20249
Henrike.Burmeister@messe-muenchen.de
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