Focusing on an industrial cluster worth US$100 billion, the China (Guzhen) International Lighting Fair (GILF) brings together premium brands and targeted global buyers. The 29th GILF, spanning over 5 days, unfolded on a massive exhibition space of over 1.5 million square meters, hosting an impressive lineup of over 3,300 lighting and illumination brands. The event comprehensively showcased the industry’s strength in technology, trending products, groundbreaking ideas, and the latest trends. It will serve as a bridge of exhibition and trade spanning the whole industrial chain by establishing close cooperation in the Greater Bay Area, combining fair and sub-venues, merging the exhibition site and the Internet, and integrating online and offline activities.
The main venue of the 29th GILF attracted a total of 70,362 professional visits, with 66,324 of which from domestic regions and 4,038 from overseas, representing 130 countries and regions worldwide. The number of international visitors witnessed a remarkable growth of 3.7% compared to 2019, setting a new all-time high record.
Over 220,000 admissions to the 8 sub-venues (totaling over 290,000 visits to the 9 venues), as major shopping centers came alive with vibrant activities, reverberating the vibrant pulse of the autumn season within the lighting and illumination industry.
Quality Upliftment
A total of about 3,300 exhibitors displays over 100,000 new products as part of the fair
Driven by the advantage of the lighting industry featuring the demand for essential products and an end-to-end supply chain, thousands of sellers and buyers from far and wide converged in the “Lighting Capital”. Productive and well-orchestrated business discussions, along with a constant stream of deals being signed, dominated the exhibition halls during the 29th GILF. During on-the-spot interviews conducted by dozens of media outlets, exhibitors and buyers alike expressed their contentment with bountiful rewards. Amidst their accolades, they eagerly expressed their great anticipation for the next installment of the GILF.
Elevating standards, new experiences: With a sprawling size of 55,000 square meters, the main venue became a bustling showcase for 890 companies, each vying to stand out. Alongside the existing 6 halls, the main venue expanded its offerings with the inclusion of all-new Hall G, as well as Star-up Zone, Zhongshan Brand Zone, Shenzhen Zone Foreign Trade Zone, and even Lighting X Camping Zone. The enhanced arrangement of “7 halls and 5 specialized zones” not only capitalized on the emerging synergy between “innovation in Shenzhen and made in Zhongshan,” but also served as a catalyst for the accelerated growth of small and medium-sized enterprise brands. Moreover, it catered to the need of the lighting and illumination industry for high-quality development on all fronts.
The main venue focuses on specialization, while the sub-venues prioritize sophistication. With the continuation of the “main venue + sub-venues” operating model, the main venue, Guzhen Convention and Exhibition Centre, and its 8 sub-venues—Lihe Lighting Expo Center, Huayi Plaza, Star Alliance Global Brand Lighting Center, Lighting Era Center, Guzhen Chang’an Lighting Parts & Electronic City, Caosan International Lighting Parts City, Guyi Ruifeng International Lighting Fittings City, and Guyi Qingfeng LED Lighting Trading City—unveiled a remarkable range of roughly 100,000 new products. Together, they forged a comprehensive one-stop procurement platform from the source, serving the global buyers with diversified, targeted, and all-inclusive purchasing solutions.
New Potential Unleashed
4 standout highlights are at the forefront, leading the industry trend
Since September, a steady flow of traders has been visiting Guzhen Town non-stop. And the grand opening of the 29th GILF has presented the lighting capital with new industry opportunities, new demands, and introduced novel business models, consequently broadening the industry framework.
This fair shone a spotlight on four major highlights: smart lighting, low-carbon sustainability, cross-sector integration, and new and unique products produced by specialized and sophisticated enterprises. It showcased how they seamlessly merged into the ecosystem of various product categories, such as residential lighting, commercial lighting, outdoor lighting, special lamps, machines, and accessories, while also permeating into niche sectors like education, health, cultural tourism, and new energy.
With its ever-increasing popularity among end consumers, smart lighting held a prominent position as the crowd-puller at this year’s exhibition. From a comprehensive range of smart products to application management platforms, intelligent lamp posts, and intelligent LED tubes for parking lots, these innovations are unlocking a whole new realm of possibilities in smart lighting scenarios. By utilizing their core lighting technology and offering comprehensive smart lighting solutions, many exhibitors demonstrated a progressive shift in their role from product suppliers to comprehensive solution providers.
As the drive towards “carbon neutrality” and “peak carbon” goals gains momentum, lithium-ion new energy and photovoltaic energy storage technologies are maturing. In this context, exhibitors displayed an array of sought-after products such as home energy storage, solar-powered streetlights, and landscape illumination. They underscore the “low-carbon + lighting” feature, becoming a transformative force as a “new engine” that propels the advancement of green and sustainable lighting. The presence of exhibits such as lithium-ion batteries, contract energy management solutions, energy storage power cabinets, inverters, intelligent four-in-one energy storage systems, and solar-powered landscape lights sparked significant interest among a multitude of professional buyers seeking expert advice.
The main venue witnessed a tremendous influx of new and unique products manufactured by specialized and sophisticated enterprises. The “best-selling items” enterprises showcasing products such as LED dynamic insect lights, mesh dot matrix displays, magnetic suspension desk lamps, and artistic wall-mounted lights received glowing reviews from many attending customers who were left impressed after experiencing them firsthand.
With the boundaries between “cross-industry + lighting” being breached, the distinct characteristics of the “new track” formed through the fusion and extension of multiple forms of business have become even more prominent. This has become the keyword and defining feature of this year’s GILF, where smart lighting seamlessly integrated with daily living, production and operation methods, urban landscapes, and cultural tourism industries, showcasing the true meaning of “light beyond what meets the eye.”
Deal Closure Boosted
The Hosted Buyer Program gets refreshed: a paradigm shifts in sourcing
As one of the flagship events of the GILF, the “Hosted Buyer Program” was upgraded and restarted. We cordially invited over 300 highly competent and highly motivated international procurement leaders from Southeast Asia, South Asia, Middle East, and other regions. We helped them engage in personalized and accurate matchmaking with exhibitors with a proven track record in exports, and empowered businesses to establish valuable connections and seize lucrative trade prospects on a global and sophisticated level.
The ‘four-cornered success’ of the Hosted Buyer Program gained unanimous acclaim from both buyers and exhibitors: the Welcome Reception promoting the Guzhen Town, the fair, and procurement enterprises; the Business Matching meetings seeing successful one-on-one engagements; the Sourcing Tour in Huayi Plaza showing the buyer groups the charm of luxury lighting megastore; and the entertaining Networking Party facilitating business negotiations. All this contributed to fruitful cooperation and mutual delight.
Nexus of Ideas
High-end forum events take center stage
A Kaleidoscope of high-end conferences, theme events, and the sales promotion festival flocked in abundance at the main venue and sub-venues during the exhibition, boosting trade fervor. They include the “Innovation Leads the High Quality Development of the Lighting Industry Forum”, the “2023 Guzhen (Zhongshan)-JD Healthy Lighting Standards Release & Zhongshan Lighting Exhibition Hall Launch Ceremony”, the “Intellectual Property Boosting the High-Quality Economic Development Forum”, the “Digital-Intelligence Integration · Chip-Cloud Collaboration: 2023 China Intelligent Lighting Development Forum”, the “2024 Innovative Luminaire Design New Product Launch & Thomson Brand Release Event”, and other in-person and virtual meetings and events. These events invited numerous top industry experts, scholars, leading enterprise representatives, and lighting industry distributors. With a focus on industry development trends, technological innovation, product patents, and original design, the discussions at each conference aimed to explore cutting-edge lighting technology and market models. The conference venues were filled with an atmosphere of heightened awareness and a storm of new thinking, which catalyze new business models, emerging demands, and novel applications in the industry, empowering profound transformations.
In terms of sub-venues, “procurement season,” “new product wave,” “art festival,” and “live store explorations” were impressively presented. These include the “Together Along the Way, Benefiting Others and Achieving Harmony – 2023 October Series Activities” at the Lihe Lighting Expo Center, the “Global Lighting Procurement Festival” at the Huayi Plaza, the “Autumn Featured Lighting Session” at the Star Alliance Global Brand Lighting Center, the “Second International Lighting Exhibition at the Times Square” at the Lighting Era Center, the “Golden Autumn October All-Category Purchasing Festival” at the Guyi Ruifeng International Lighting Fittings City and the Guyi Qingfeng LED Lighting Trading City as well as various business promotion activities at the Guzhen Chang’an Lighting Parts & Electronic City and the Caosan International Lighting Parts City. These events also engaged with a large number of traders to attend.
In addition, EZTalk, virtual exhibition tours, lighting store explorations, and live streaming of conference forums were utilized to promptly report the atmosphere and grandeur of the fair. Interaction with audiences on platforms such as Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok) and Channels allowed for a collective experience of the charm of the lighting industry. Integration with the exhibition-connected B2B website Denggle.com formed a two-way enabling and cost-effective procurement loop, bridging the online and offline channels.
Be anchored in our origins and spread radiance worldwide. As the 29th China (Guzhen) International Lighting Fair came to a successful close, it leaves behind a trail of innovation and leadership, creating a platform for global lighting professionals to join forces and showcase a one-stop procurement extravaganza. The 30th China (Guzhen) International Lighting Fair, scheduled for 18 to 21 March 2024, sparkles with brilliance, hoisting its sails and fearlessly breaking through the waves!
