AIPIA smart & sustainable summit returns to China after 4 years

An audience of over 100 delegates enjoyed a welcome return of the AIPIA China Summit during the recent ProPak China exhibition in Shanghai. AIPIA, in conjunction with its Chinese partners Prime Business Consulting, staged a full-day of presentations on 19 June, covering some of the latest developments in smart and sustainable packaging technologies aimed at the huge and growing market in the world’s second largest economy.

The opportunities for smart packaging to prosper in China are high, given that supply chains are under intense pressure still and many of the companies are concerned about fake products in sectors, such as wines and spirits, medicines and luxury goods. There is also an increasing focus on sustainable packaging and how active and intelligent packaging can contribute to more environmentally friendly practices at every stage of the value chain.   

Ten speakers covered topics such as low carbon innovative packaging through intelligent. non-invasive oxygen level testing in MAP, using digital printing to replace labels for cartons and how smart packaging can help to deliver Corporate Social Responsibility goals.

A particularly ‘hot’ topic globally is the new GS1 Digital Link standard. It means that identifiers such as the GTIN are now a gateway to information that strengthens brand loyalty, improves supply chain traceability information, and enables business partner APIs, patient safety, etc. Laurent Tonnelier of Mobilead gave an excellent introduction to this new world of coding.  

Peter Stael of Across-Consult discussed how zero emissions is a wakeup call to FMCG companies and suggested how smart packaging might help to deliver them. Sanners’s Chinese representatives explained how desiccants can play a role in shelf-life extension in the food and nutrition sectors.

Eef de Ferrante, managing director of AIPIA, introduced the smart food chain (SFC) project, which is currently under construction and applying for European Union research funding. He explained that the aim of SFC was to reinvent global food supply chains using Smart technologies to greatly improve tracking, traceability, condition monitoring, product information – in fact all aspects of a modern, efficient food supply chain.

In a joint statement issued by Eef de Ferrante of AIPIA and Wu Chao-Wu of Prime Business Consulting after the close of the event, they said, “We are delighted with the response to the first AIPIA Smart & Sustainable Packaging Summit since 2020. We thank all our speakers and delegates for their great support. It demonstrates the interest in these technologies is still very high and only set to increase in the Chinese market. We will certainly be back next year with an even bigger and better Summit!”

In 2023, the China Packaging Market size was estimated at US$ 193.5 billion and is set to grow at a CAGR of 3.5% over the next three years, according to some of the latest research. Additionally In 2022, the number of smartphone users in China was almost 1.04 billion. According to the forecast, the user number is expected to increase to around 1.18 billion by 2026. With around 6.6 billion people who use smartphones around the world, China accounts for over 15% of total users.