Dear readers

ITMA ASIA+CITME 2020， scheduled on June 12-16， 2021， is a cut above the rest of textile events not only in Asia， but also in the world at the time when the global pandemic is still running wild， and when the textile industry， including the technical textile sector that provides the medical textiles and protective wear， has emerged stronger in economic recovery and is growing faster， projecting a promising scenario for investing in new equipment and technology.

To follow up and parallel with this trend， ITMA ASIA+CITME， a Shanghai-based international textile machinery trade show， is held at optimal time as we all understand that the textile technology and equipment play an important role in boosting the strong recovery of textile economy， making it possible for sustaining a fair growth rate to meet the global market demand in fashion， interior decorations and industrial applications. Unlike many other business events that are presented online in case of virus spread， the ITMA ASIA+CITME 2020 takes place in physical business rendezvous at National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai， China， where COVID-19 is kept in good control in spite of only a few accidentally sporadic cases reported weeks ago in one or two provinces.

In 2008， China International Textile Machinery Exhibition （CITME） and ITMA ASIA converged to work together to provide a combined mega textile machinery trade fair， which has grown up to an well-known international event in amazing enormity and quality. It was set as an biennial gathering， but last year made it impossible for organizers to prepare for getting all the things done for the show as a consequence of the global pandemic impact， so ITMA ASIA+CITME 2020 is shifted to 2021， which is still impressively sizable according to the pre-show information given at the organizers website where we can see there are “some 100，000 visitorship from all sectors of the global textile industry”， “some 1，650 exhibitors expected to take part in the show”， and “170，000 square meters of exhibition space”.

As part of the organizers， the European Committee of Textile Machinery Manufacturers （CEMATEX）， the owner of ITMA ASIA， is committed to providing a leading-edge platform for the world textile and garment industry to market and source efficient and sustainable solutions， share knowledge and network. And ITMA ASIA+CITME， which is going on right now as you might have this new issue of our magazine also at the trade show， is nothing short of the world exhibition business leader to usher the global textile manufacturers to the new trend for the latest developments and ground-breaking technology in robotics and artificial intelligence （AI）， enabling the progressive adoption of automation in textile manufacturing processes. Both European and Chinese organizers of ITMA ASIA+CITME are very clear in the view that the world manufacturing industry is pivoting towards digitalization， sustainability and circularity， the innovative technologies backed up by digitalization processes are the critical drivers for shaping the future of the entire integrated textile and garment value chain. The professional visitors will find the solutions needed to increase manufacturing efficiency and to cater to the market demand for functional textiles made of the advanced materials that the new technology and equipment can process.

The first quarter of the textile industry in China turned out two-digit growth in many economic indicators， which is， I believe， an interesting impetus to the enthusiasm for both exhibitors and visitors at this great trade show.

ZHAO Hong Editor-in-Chief

June， 2021