2008 China International Billiards Exhibition

With the sport of billiards becoming more popular in China, there is a massive industry developing around the sport of billiards in that region. Billiards forum had a chance to catch up with Levi Wang, the Overseas Director of the 2008 China (Guangzhou) Billiards Exhibition. Below in an interview we conducted with Levi in August of 2007.

2008 China Billiards Exhibition

Levi Wang: Thank you Gary, and the Billiards Forum for giving me such a chance to communicate with your visitors, I greatly appreciate the opportunity.

Billiards Forum: Levi, glad to have you here, and thanks for answering our questions. For starters, how did the China (Guangzhou) International Billiards Exhibition begin? How was it founded?

Levi Wang: My company is engaged in organizing exhibition of leisure and entertainment for over 4 years. Billiard is a popular leisure sport in China. There are more than 60,000,000 peoples who play billiard in China, and many of them take billiard as their hobby. There are many billiard rooms in city and country, especially many professional billiard clubs emerged in the key city (for example: Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, etc.). So China will be a huge market for billiard products. We organized the first GBE to build up a trade platform for billiard products. We hope that suppliers can find dealers and buyer easier, and buyers can find suppliers easier.

Billiards Forum: How did you become involved as the Overseas Director for the exhibition?

Levi Wang: I was an organizer in GBE2007. As GBE project run, we know that some overseas brands have sell their cues, clothing and tables in China, and many overseas businessmen finds suppliers from China. To help overseas brands and buyers take part in the show easer, and to let more overseas friends know GBE, my company arrange me as overseas director. I hope I can help overseas brands and buyers to participate in GBE2008, and make friends with overseas professionals. I want to cooperate with overseas media and organization of billiard to strengthen the international communication.

Billiards Forum: Is the China (Guangzhou) International Billiards Exhibition open to North American Exhibitors?

Levi Wang: Yes. The size of China's middle class, led by a well-educated and upwardly mobile urban population, is expanding quickly. Some experts estimate that the middle class will grow to 200 million people in by 2008, slightly less than the U.S. population as a whole. Many of them are billiard players; they have enough disposable incomes to buy brand products. The next few years promise to become an important time frame for establishing brands by increasing their exposure to one of the fastest growing consumer markets in the world today.

Billiards Forum: Do you think this event benefits the many Billiard equipment manufacturers in China?

Levi Wang: Yes, I think billiard equipment manufacturer in China can benefit a lot from the show; many of them have benefited a lot from GBE2007.

Billiards Forum: Is billiards becoming more popular in China now, or has it always been a popular sport in your region?

Levi Wang: Yes, Billiards is much more popular in China now. Billiards came to China at the end of 19 century, and has spread to most cities in China over the past 20 years. Many young men have enjoyed billiards for entertainment over the years, and as many of them grow up, they keep billiards as hobby, so Age-Structure of players is more reasonable. Some Chinese players appear, and do well in many international matches and there are more television programs and magazines to introduce billiard and pool, so the general population can know more about it and will tend to like it more. I am sure that many more people enjoy billiards today than ever before.

Billiards Forum: What advantage does a North American Billiard Manufacturer have when exhibiting at the China (Guangzhou) International Billiards Exhibition?

Levi Wang: There are a few famous brands in China. People know little about the various billiard brands. The Chinese have very good impression about North American billiard products so it is easier to find dealers and promote their brand if they come to China and exhibit at the show. We welcome North American manufacturers and products in our region.

Billiards Forum: Can a manufacturer advertise in your Catalogue if they can not attend the 2008 exhibition?

Levi Wang: Yes.

Billiards Forum: Thanks for answering all of the business related questions! Can you describe for our readers what the 2007 China (Guangzhou) International Billiards Exhibition was like?

Levi Wang: 2007 China (Guangzhou) International Billiards Exhibition (GBE2007) took place between March 19th to the 21st, in Guangzhou, and it is the first billiard exhibition in China. It has built up a trade platform of billiards in our region. GBE2007 attracted 150 exhibitors from the Billiard and home recreation industry. Exhibit space reached 6000 square meters which translates to about 300 booths. 1280 buyers visited GBE2007, and about 70% of them are dealers or operators of billiard clubs. Lin Zhenghuang, the former world king of billiards has done stunt performance for our visitors It was a great time.

Billiards Forum: What was your favorite part of the exhibition?

Levi Wang: I like the atmosphere of our show, and that many buyers and suppliers from all around the world talked together and shook hands with each other. My favorite part of the exhibition happened after the show. I visited several our exhibitors after our show, they told me they found several dealers through the show and the dealers sold a lot of tables, which is my favorite part of the exhibition.

Billiards Forum: What will be different about next year's exhibition?

Levi Wang: There will be more activities and events with the next exhibition. When we organized the first show, we got to know that the billiard clubs are not only important buyers of brand billiard products but that they also played a important roles in spreading the billiard culture. To help billiard clubs run better, we will organize the First China Seminar for Operation and Management of Billiards Clubs. To help overseas visitors to get in touch with billiards organizations in China, we will organize for overseas professionals to visit clubs and factories in China. To help overseas company to find partner in China, a Brand Marketing Summit will provide North American companies with chances to promote their brands and introduce themselves to dealers.

Billiards Forum: Do you think this even will be ongoing, occurring every year?

Levi Wang: Yes.

Billiards Forum: Who do you think are today's best up and coming Asian Billiard players?

Levi Wang: I'd like to agree Ding Junhui is the best billiard player now. Ding was born in 1987 and started playing snooker at the age of nine. He became the number one ranked player in China in 2003 and no. 9 ranked player in the world now. Ding is so young, talented and hard working, so I am sure he can be the best Asian player. There is a female player I like, whose name is Xiaoting Pan. She has been named the "9-Ball Pool Queen" in Asia.

Billiards Forum: Great! Yes, we have a female "9 Ball pool queen" in North America as well, her name is Jennifer Barretta. What are these players doing to better the sport of Billiards and Pool?

Levi Wang: All these players do a lot for the sport of Billiards and Pool. There were about 100 million viewers in the television audience that watched TV when Ding Junhui beat Stephen Hendry to win the China Open in 2005. There are more billiard matches on TV, and the people who watch these matches increase greatly. And as more people pay attention to the sport, and begin to understand the sport and its charm, they enjoy the billiards better. Shanghai Masters just ended in this summer, and more matches will come to China. They make a huge number of people involved in the sport.

Billiards Forum: Thanks for answering all of our questions, we greatly appreciate it.

2008 China (Guangzhou) Billiards Exhibition

Levi Wang can be contacted at TEL: 0086 20 62809756 FAX: 0086 20 62861756 for more information on the 2008 China (Guangzhou) Billiards Exhibition. You can also visit their web site at gbechina.com for more information.

Below are photographs from last year's China (Guangzhou) Billiards Exhibition.

If you have any questions of comments on this article, please visit the forum and post your opinions by clicking the link here: 2008 China (Guangzhou) Billiards Exhibition.

Title: 2008 China International Billiards Exhibition
Author: billiardsforum (Billiards Forum)
Published: 9/19/2007 6:35:18 AM

2008 China International Billiards Exhibition Comments

game room gallery from Burnsville, MN on 8/30/2007 4:56:20 PM
I have a vast knowledge of the cue sport industry and of Chinese manufacturing of billiard supplies. My father has been in the billiard supply business since 1948 and I have since 1974. I would love to be able to set some things straight before China puts all the American billiard manufacturers out of business.

If anyone would like to chat, call me.

Dean Stuke
Game Room Gallery
Cell: (952) 406 2896

Peter Ho from Hong Kong on 8/11/2009 8:37:33 PM
I would like to receive next year's China International Billiards Exhibition information.

Jenny Xiong from Guangdong, China on 12/18/2009 6:30:02 PM
If you and your friends are interested in the China Billiard Exhibition 2010, please feel free to contact me. I will provide you with visitor passes for free.

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