Coronavirus Hits Trade Fairs, Industry Conferences

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Feb 7 (Reuters) – Over two dozen large trade fairs and industry conferences in China and overseas have been postponed or hit by travel curbs and concerns about the spread of a coronavirus, potentially disrupting billions of dollars worth of deals.

In order of scheduled or likely dates:

Taipei International Book Exhibition, Feb. 4-9 – Billed as Taiwan’s largest annual literary event, the exhibition has been postponed to May 7-12.
League of Legends Pro League, due to start Feb. 5: The e-sports league owned by gaming giant Tencent Holdings said it would postpone the start of its second week until further notice.
Singapore Airshow, Feb 11-16: The aviation leadership summit scheduled on the eve of the event was canceled. The show itself will go ahead as planned, but on a smaller scale
China Commodity Markets Insight Forum 2020, Feb 19-20: The forum held by S&P Global Platts was delayed until further notice.
National Association of Travel Agents Singapore (NATAS) travel fair 2020, Feb 21-23: Moved to May because exhibitors were concerned about turnout at the fair.
Swedish equipment maker Ericsson withdrew from the Feb 24-27 international telecoms conference in Barcelona, becoming the second major exhibitor to pull out after South Korea’s LG Electronics.
China Iron Ore 2020, Feb. 25-27: The event held by Fastmarkets in Beijing has been postponed to June 30–July 2.
East China Import and Export Commodity Fair, March 1-4：Due to be held in Shanghai, the fair usually attracts traders of garments and household goods. It was postponed until further notice.
Marine Money China, March 3-4: Originally slated to be held in Shanghai, organizers of the meeting for shipping financiers have said that it has been delayed, likely until November.
Food & Hotel Asia in Singapore, March 3-6: Organisers of the biennial trade show have postponed its first leg to July. The event attracted more than 80,000 attendees when it was last held in 2018.
National People’s Congress, likely to have started March 5: China is considering delaying the annual meeting of its top legislative body, five people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
6th China LNG & Gas International Exhibition and Summit, Shanghai, March 4-6: Organizers said the event has been postponed until a later date this year. They are in the process of confirming the new date.
Asian Ferroalloys, March 16-18: The conference by Fastmarkets, due to be held in Shanghai, has been postponed with no new date given.
Art Basel Hong Kong show, March 19-21: The high-profile annual show has been canceled.
SEMICON/FPD China 2020, March 18-30: The annual trade conference for the global chip industry in China was postponed until further notice.
China Development Forum, usually late March: Hosted by a foundation under the State Council, the conference was postponed until further notice.
Canton Fair, spring season from April 15: The venue of China’s oldest and biggest trade fair said it has suspended exhibitions until further notice.

(Reporting by Brenda Goh, Shanghai Newsroom and Emily Chow in Shanghai, Min Zhang and Shivani Singh in Beijing and John Geddie in Singapore; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Himani Sarkar)