????Zhang Qian ????zhqcindy@163.com ????IT has been 15 years since Doris Schneider from the Nuremberg Chamber of Commerce and Industry led her exhibition team from Bavaria, Germany in 2001 to attend Shenzhen’s grand gathering of technology: the China Hi-Tech Fair. ????“The building housing the high-tech fair in 2001 was standing alone in the city with no big hotels, no skyscrapers around, but now the fair and the city in general have developed so much since then,” said Schneider. “And we were the first and the only foreign exhibitor at the fair back then.” ????During the past 15 years, Shenzhen has changed nearly its entire urban landscape, and so has the China Hi-Tech Fair in terms of the number of foreign exhibitors as well as the technologies that are showcased by these exhibitors, according to Schneider. ????Exhibiting delegations from 31 countries applied to attend this year’s fair. A special area for foreign exhibitors was set up in Hall 1 of the convention and exhibition center. Exhibitors from Germany, South Africa, the European Union, the Czech Republic and other countries have set up booths to display the technologies from their countries. ????A special section was set up for 23 of the countries along the “Belt and Road Initiative” in addition to the foreign exhibiting area. ????“I think the fair is growing bigger with more influence each year as I can see they have added the ‘Belt and Road’ area and the ‘Smart City’ hall in the last few years,” said Schneider, who helped organize 10 medium-sized companies from Germany to come to this year’s fair. ????“The big companies like Siemens don’t need us to connect them with the Chinese market, but the small-sized companies are valuing the opportunity to attend the fair as it would bring them higher chances to enter the Chinese market,” said Schneider. ????It is also Lipa Learning’s first time showcasing its education apps for preschool children, between the ages of 2 months and 7 years old, at the China Hi-Tech Fair. ????With an array of intelligence-development apps on mobile phones and tablets, Prague-based Lipa Learning offers dozens of apps that cater to children trying to develop their capabilities. ????“We are trying to not only teach the children academic competence, like how to write, how to read, but also other curriculums including physical wellness, social-emotional balance, healthy lifestyle and others,” said Erika Boucharechasova from the company’s business development department. ????The company is focusing on preschool education applications by joining the fair and wanted to expand their Chinese market. ????“We have the apps developed in 14 languages including Chinese so that Chinese parents and children can use them,” said Boucharechasova, “and we hope to find investors, partners and clients through this high-tech fair.” ????The Europe Union also has one of the largest booths in the foreign exhibition area this year, which presents three major projects that link European researchers, universities and technological institutions with the Chinese Government as well as the related institutions. | 