SHANGHAI, China, Dec. 19 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- The official press conference for the 13th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition ("Auto Shanghai 2009") was successfully held on December 11 in the Four Seasons Hotel, Shanghai. Hundreds of mainstream media took part in this press conference, including Xinhua News Agency, China News Agency, China National Radio, Shanghai Media Group TV News Center, Shanghai Media Group Radio News Center, Jiefang Daily, Wenhui Newspaper, Xinmin Evening News, Xinwen Morning News, Shanghai Jiaotong Radio, Sina.com, Sohu.com, 163.com, Eastday.com and Chinacars.com. During and after the conference, journalists were encouraged to actively ask organizers of the 2009 event questions, and the conference proved to be completely interactive.
A selection of the questions and answers provided during the press conference are listed below:
Q: What is the meaning of the theme of "ART OF INNOVATION"?
A: Considering the English theme "ART OF INNOVATION", Auto Shanghai 2009
will focus more on the development and improvement of technology and
new energy. The development of new technologies, such as hybrid power,
new energy, to appear in Auto Shanghai 2009 might be more clearly
reflected in English. At the same time, the organizers are considering
planning relevant activities to better reflect this theme -- Mr. Lu Ren,
executive vice president of Shanghai International Exhibition Co., Ltd.
A: In every world-level automobile exhibition, there will be new themes
and slogans. Automobiles around the world have been developing new
technologies, pursuing more environmental friendly, more effective and
more advanced ideas. Facing the current world economic crisis,
automobile enterprises are confronted with new challenges. The
solution is to develop new technologies better, which is also the theme
of Auto Shanghai 2009 -- Mr. Harald Mulle, CEO of International
Exhibition and Trade Fair Co., Ltd. from International Messe- und
Ausstellungsdienst (IMAG).
Q: Would you please give us an introduction to cars with new energy in
this exhibition?
A: As a consensus of this industry, all home-grown brands in the
automobile industry nationwide are developing new energy cars, hybrid
vehicles, electronic vehicles. They develop these technologies in
their core fields. New energy cars will be showcased in the exhibition,
allowing these companies the opportunity to display their latest
technology -- Mr. Wangxia, vice-chairman of the Automobile Sub-council
of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).
Q: As the automobile industry is facing the economic crisis, will national
home-grown brands postpone the development of new energy technologies?
A: The automobile industry will no longer market cars through price
leverage, but will improve technology and quality. The automobile
enterprises and factories are prudent in terms of price wars. In
actuality, they will occupy the market by investing in the research and
development of new products, and by manufacturing new products. They
won't postpone such research and development and clearer information
will come out next February or March -- Mr. Wang Xia, vice-chairman of
the Automobile Sub-council of the China Council for the Promotion of
International Trade (CCPIT).
Q: As regards to the development of 'new energy', will the organizer
provide a platform or will it co-promote the technology development
with manufacturers?
A: The exhibition aims to advocate information for manufacturers, and
transfer opinions to the government through this platform. The release
of new policies for the automobile industry needs multilateral
coordination. We hope that we can communicate different ideas to
policy makers through display and advocacy at this exhibition, and we
also hope the exhibition can serve as a signal to highlight the need of
new energy policies -- Mr. Wang Xia, vice-chairman of the Automobile
Sub-council of the China Council for the Promotion of International
Trade (CCPIT).
Q: The Shanghai automobile exhibition has enormous influence on many local
citizens; the exhibition area and scale are so large that it is
impossible to visit all exhibits in a short time. What new measures
have been taken to make it more people-oriented? (For example, new
measures with regard to the arrangement of display halls, tickets, and
car-parking, etc.)
A: The Shanghai automobile exhibition and Beijing automobile exhibition
have something in common here: there are a huge number of people and
automobiles. The organizers have attached great importance to this
problem too, so they are discussing every detail with the supporting
service providers, trying to provide quicker and more technological
services. For example, the organizer will promote the mobile phone
two-dimensional bar code ticket system. And the Pudong District
government has been making more efforts in civil construction. The
organizer will negotiate with the relevant government bureaus on the
issue of transport and parking spaces, etc. We will remind the
spectators to come by public transport, and we hope the media will help
to communicate such information to the public -- Mr. Gu Chunting,
executive vice president of Shanghai International Exhibition Co., Ltd.
A: In an exhibition, there will be government, exhibition organizers,
exhibitors and spectators. From the previous versions where much
support was needed from the government to the current version
characterized by more and more marketization, we have focused more on
the needs of the exhibitors. For the media, the news day for Auto
Shanghai 2005 is only one day, but two days for Auto Shanghai 2007.
The organizer provided much facilitation to the media, such as the
media center, which made it easier for journalists to interview and to
write. For the spectators, the service level of a city is related to
how people can take part in exhibitions. Exhibitions have a huge
demand in China, but we do not emphasize the area. Visiting large-
scale exhibitions will make the spectators feel tired. For example, it
will take two days to visit all the exhibition areas of the Frankfurt
Automobile Show. We hope to control the scale and allow the spectators
to see the exhibition in one day. We hope to present a healthy and
sustainable automobile exhibition, and we aim to improve efficiency and
allow the spectators to see the exhibition in one day -- Mr. Wang Xia,
vice-chairman of the Automobile Sub-council of the China Council for
the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).
Q: What is the difference between tickets in 2009 and those in previous
years, with regard to varieties and prices?
A: Ticket designs for Auto Shanghai 2009 are based on the feedback of
previous visitors, fully expressing the idea of a people-oriented
service. In order to make it more convenient for people to choose the
visiting time, the organizers will cancel the one-day tickets for
professional spectators and introduce new tickets for professional
spectators, which will be valid for both April 22 and April 23, while
the price will remain at RMB100 per ticket. The organizer will also add
some general public day tickets, which will be valid from April 24 to
April 28 with a price of RMB80 per ticket. Meanwhile, the public day
one-day tickets will continue to be used (valid only on the day of
purchase) with price the same as last year, RMB50 per ticket -- Mr. Lu
Ren, executive vice president of Shanghai International Exhibition Co.,
Ltd.
Details of various tickets:
Ticket Type Applicable date Price Notes
(RMB/ticket)
Professional April, 22 Wednesday 100 Valid for either
spectator tickets April, 23 Thursday day, but only
for one entry
Public day April, 24 Friday 80 Valid for either
general tickets April, 25 Saturday day, but only
April, 26 Sunday for one entry
April, 27 Monday
April, 28 Tuesday
Public day April, 24 Friday 50 Only valid for
one-day tickets April, 25 Saturday day of purchase
April, 26 Sunday and for one
April, 27 Monday entry
April, 28 Tuesday
Q: Have any important activities been decided upon?
A: Relevant news will be released in the third news conference in 2009.
In Auto Shanghai2009, in order to give the exhibitors and spectators
better experience, we will present dynamic demonstrations. Other
activities are still under consideration and preparation -- Mr. Lu Ren,
executive vice president of Shanghai International Exhibition Co., Ltd.
Q: How will the dynamic demonstrations be presented?
A: 2009 Auto Shanghai will be highlighted by the integration of dynamic
and static presentations, which is also a new experiment. More details
will be formally released in the press conference next year. I also
declare that the official website for Auto Shanghai 2009,
http://www.autoshanghai.org, will be launched after the conference. We
hope friends from the media could visit our website as much as possible
-- Mr. Lu Ren, executive vice president of Shanghai International
Exhibition Co., Ltd.
Q: Will the home-grown brands of the six largest national automobile
groups be displayed together or individually?
A: They will display their products in their own large exhibition areas --
Mr. Wang Xia, vice-chairman of the Automobile Sub-council of the China
Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).
