Dezeen Magazine

Maxform furniture will be on show at Design China Beijing 2020 trade show

Design China Beijing trade show to be a "testament to the strength of the design market in China"

Dezeen promotion: Design China Beijing 2020 will be one of the first trade shows to take place in China since the outbreak of Covid-19, presenting over 100 design brands alongside a programme of talks and exhibitions.

Taking place at the National Agricultural Exhibition Centre in Beijing from 23-26 September, Design China Beijing 2020 is one of the first shows to go ahead in physical form since the coronavirus pandemic swept the world.

While countries in Europe and the Americas are still introducing new lockdowns in an attempt to control the virus, the situation in China is very different. Organisers expect to see over 15,000 visitors to the fair over the course of four days.

Xue Design furniture will be on show at Design China Beijing 2020 trade show
Above: furniture by Chinese brand Xue Design. Top: chair and sideboard by fellow Chinese brand Maxform

"We are pleased to see the fair return to Beijing as scheduled, and we cherish this opportunity to bring together the design community in China for the first time this year," said Neil Gaisford, managing director at Clarion Events, which owns Design China Beijing and sister trade show Design Shanghai.

"The commitment from participating exhibitors and partners is a testament to the strength of the design market in China."

Cappellini furniture will be on show at Design China Beijing 2020 trade show
Italian brand Cappellini will be one of the international brands featured in the Casa Casa Home installation

Over 100 brands will be taking part in the show. Chinese brands such as Maxmarko, Xue Design and Thrudesign will be shown alongside leading international companies such as Walter Knoll, Zieta, Gufram, Humanscale and Flokk.

Casa Casa, one of Beijing's first international design stores, will also present a curation of products from 22 international brands including Zanotta, Carl Hansen & Søn, Vitra and Cappellini.

These will be displayed in bedroom, study and outdoor settings as part of an installation called Casa Casa Home.

Zanotta furniture will be on show at Design China Beijing 2020 trade show
Zanotta is one of the international brands exhibiting at Design China Beijing 2020

Alongside the commercial heart of the fair, Design China Beijing promises to "investigate the transformative power of design and its role in and response to a post-pandemic world" through a series of talks and exhibitions.

"2020 has been a challenging year, but we have managed to overcome many obstacles with our designer friends, exhibitors and partners to bring this year’s first major design show to Beijing," said Design China Beijing director Zhuo Tan.

"During this unprecedented time, we hope to utilise the power of design to contribute to our community. Therefore, this year’s show in Beijing will focus on how design creates solutions, and we are eager to explore and share industry trends through our fellow exhibitors and partners."

Elbow Sock for coronavirus by Raw Colour
Elbow Sock by Dutch studio Raw Color will be part of the Creat Cures exhibition

Exhibitions at the show include Create Cures, a project initiated by Chinese designers Frank Chou and Chen Min, which invited designers from all around the world to share solutions for public health problems.

The exhibition will present a series of video interviews with the participating designers alongside prototypes of the designs, such as Dutch studio Raw Color's DIY hack to use an old sock to keep your clothes clean when sneezing into your elbow.

The show's annual talks programme Forum returns with a series of discussions exploring the theme "Design Thrives to Revive the World" with a focus on sustainable design.

Ross Lovegrove portrait
British designer Ross Lovegrove will join the talks programme remotely

Chinese speakers such as Aric Chen, Zhuang Ziyu, and Zhang Lei will be joined remotely by a series of international designers and architects including Mark Dytham, Ross Lovegrove and Marcel Wanders.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) will be participating at Design China Beijing for the first time, hosting a one-day "design sprint", which will challenge participants to reinterpret traditional Beijing architecture typologies such as the hutong and siheyuan.

Design China Beijing 2020 takes place at the National Agricultural Exhibition Centre in Beijing from 23 to 26 September.

Dezeen is a media partner for the event and will publish highlights from the show once it has taken place.