Historically, every edition of the annual APPPEXPO in Shanghai is turned out to be a comprehensive confluence where new and most updated signage printing and production machines, technologies, materials, and many other allied solutions are staged collectively by a host of leading global companies as exhibitors, among which a handful of companies from India are always part of it. In addition to the exhibitors, it’s quite common to see a large number of visitors from India thronging to APPPEXPO. This year’s edition was no exception.
Though the US-Iran conflict had drastically hampered travels of visitors from the Middle East and Europe to the expo, which in turn caused APPPEXPO 2026 thinly attended as compared to the other earlier editions, the overall zeal of the expo was not missed. This expo is one of the chosen platforms for the Indian exhibitors to present their flagship products carrying ‘Made in India’ labels to the global audience. There was a host of them this year too.
Besides being exhibitors, many prominent signage companies from India at APPPEXPO 2026 joined hands with their principals in China who were exhibiting the latest and trendy range of machines, technologies, and solutions. When interacted, they cheerfully expressed that the expo truly transpired as a prolific platform for everyone to witness and experience ‘what’s new’ in the industry. Visibly, APPPEXPO 2026 flaunted amazing applications as well as advanced technological marvels like fully automation-driven printing systems and many such technologies.
This year, the expo was themed on ‘Connect • Create • Change’. It signified an approach or opportunity of integrating creative economy, digital economy, and green economy into the fresh industrial development. After all, it was justifiably visible to a larger extent through the machines, technologies, applications, and many other solutions shown so imposingly. Every year, APPPEXPO never fails to set the atmosphere of enthralling both exhibitors and trade visitors alike.
Interestingly, D-PES China 2026, yet another big sign expo in China, was held barely three days after the APPPEXPO 2026. D-PES has its own trait of pulling different profiles of crowds, who are majorly traders. The expo this year moved to a new and larger venue in Guangzhou. D-PES in fact is a twin expo. Its concurrent show titled D-PES Textile Printing & Embroidery Expo is an added advantage for those in the textile domain. It’s indeed a one of its kind show with dual or multiple opportunities.
Now, let’s talk about our Region Exclusive story in this issue. Our travelling team visited Mathura city in Uttar Pradesh. They felt happy to be around the city where a divine and profound spiritual connection provides a tranquil and peaceful atmosphere. But the sad part is that most of the signage players whom our team interacted said they engage only in small-scale projects while large-scale turnkey projects in the city are handled by big players from Agra and Delhi. Our team encouraged them to get up and get equipped with modern machines and technologies with which they can compete and win in the competitive market.
Sonal Khurana
sonal@smediagroup.in