Centered at the very heart of China's textile & garment producing regions, Shanghai continues to be a major hub for buyers and sellers of fabrics from all over the world.

Perhaps that's why the trade fair Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics, now in its 12th year, continues to grow in size and importance for the global textile industry. This year's show is scheduled for 25 – 28 October at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre. The show is open to trade professionals only, with day one reserved exclusively for invited buyers.

Over the past few years, Intertextile has become a well-known brand of trade fairs in its own right, with several events in mainland China annually.

The Shanghai apparel fabrics show is now the largest event in the Intertextile stable (it will reach 80,000sqm in 2006) and one of the leading events in China in terms of internationality.

National pavilions for the Autumn 2006 show are already confirmed from Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Portugal, Taiwan, Thailand and Turkey, showing the ongoing recognition of China as a major export destination for foreign made fabrics, and a viable trading partner with vast untapped potential.

The concept of the fair is very simple: it is a trading platform for buyers and sellers of garment fabrics, and this remains the fair's focus. But Intertextile Shanghai’s natural evolution into a major meeting platform for the industry has attracted exhibitors showing an array of textile and fashion-related products.

Accessory manufacturers such as Swarovski use Intertextile to promote their range of crystal components for the fashion industry, such as crystal buttons, sew-on stones and transfers.

Major fibre companies including Lenzing, Invista, Hyosung and Yihua Unifi, as well as chemical companies such as Dow and BASF take advantage of the high number of fabric manufacturers onsite to promote their fibre and yarn products, and to educate garment designers and manufacturers about new developments in style and function.