The Beijing auto show, a major industry meeting scheduled for April 21-30, will be postponed indefinitely due to the epidemic of new coronaviruses, organizers announced on Monday. The new dates will be announced later, they said on the event website. This decision is justified by the ongoing campaign to stem the epidemic of viral pneumonia in China and " to effectively protect the health and safety of exhibitors and visitors ."
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Many trade shows in China and around the world have already been postponed or canceled due to fears of the spread of the new coronavirus epidemic. Among the most significant announcements, the World Telecoms Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, a long-awaited high mass in the sector scheduled for February 24-27, has been canceled.
An unmissable event
The Chinese car show is held in Beijing every two years, alternating with Shanghai. It remains an unmissable event for global manufacturers, who usually multiply the launches of new vehicles to expand their offer on a colossal Chinese market but which has become much more complicated.
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Auto sales collapsed 9.6% in China last year, after already recording their first decline (-2.8%) in 2018 since the 1990s, against the backdrop of a sharp slowdown in economic conditions. Sales plunged 18% year-on-year in January, their 19th consecutive month of decline, and the epidemic of viral pneumonia is further clouding the outlook for 2020.
