Intelligent and well-designed home appliance gadgets, including many specifically targeting the Chinese market, made their debut at the Kitchen & Bath China show which opened in Shanghai on Wednesday.
Besides the basic and cleaning demands, Chinese consumers are paying more attention to the health, design and intelligence sectors, said exhibitors and visitors at the KBC show, the top exhibition of its kind in China which returned to Shanghai for the first time after the pandemic.
At the Shanghai New International Expo Center in the Pudong New Area, the show takes up all 17 halls for an exhibition space of 231,000 square meters. About 1,380 exhibitors, from Austria, Japan, France, Spain and other regions and countries, are attending.
Japanese water and housing products provider LIXIL Group is showcasing major brands under the theme of innovation, intelligent designs and sustainable development.
"With this important platform (KBC), we hope to share LIXIL's insights and thoughts on the development of the kitchen and bathroom industry … to build a better home life for everyone," Kinya Seto, LIXIL's chief executive and president, said at its booth on Wednesday.
Smart Ona toilets and well-designed bath basins attracted visitors to the Roca booth, some of which made their debuts in China and are yet to be available in the market. The spotlight is the Ona toilet that supports voice-control and UV-powered cleaning technology, which makes sense for Chinese families, especially after the pandemic.
Chinese families now pursue both convenient and intelligent features and compact and elegant designs, according to Roca, a Spain-based company.
Blum, an Austrian furniture fittings company, is showcasing products and innovation specifically designed for China at the show.
They include a China-style closet with handle-less design to offer users bigger space and flexibility. Another product is called Spice Drawer, which can hold a large number of flavor bottles arranged in a flexible and orderly manner. It is appropriate for families dealing with Chinese cuisine every day.
Blum is rapidly expanding in China. It is building a fully automated intelligent factory in Shanghai, plans to again attend the China International Import Expo this year and took part in a design show in Guangzhou, southern Guangdong Province, recently.
The four-day KBC show, which ends on Saturday, represents the trends of "integration, built-in, green, interconnection, intelligence, health and innovation" in the Chinese market, organizers said.