All in Print China - which attracted more than 100,000 visitors in 2018 - is set to be this year's biggest printing trade show following the postponement of DRUPA.

The event is currently on schedule for Shanghai, October 12-16, PPP Manila the same month, and indoprint in Jakarta, planned for September.

In 2018, All in Print's 100,933 visitors total was an increase of 31 per cent on its predecessor, and at 110,000m2 a third larger.

DRUPA director Sabine Geldermann (pictured) says All in Print - also part of the DRUPA portfolio - becomes the largest and most important print trade show in 2020.

She says organisers are monitoring the situation together with subsidiaries Messe Düsseldorf China and Messe Düsseldorf Asia and participating partners "and will act in good time if necessary".

DRUPA would have been the finale of a "trade fair rally" at Messe Düsseldorf, with seven events planned for the northern spring already postponed.

The new date - April 20-30, 2021 - is "the earliest and best possible date", she says, adding that international customers and partners met the postponement "with great understanding and acceptance".

She says that with declines and lasting economic setbacks, it will be important that the industry does not suffer a complete standstill in production. "Our industry must continue to invest in the future in order to seize market opportunities, because print, with its so many different and extensive applications and forms of use, will continue to be indispensable in many markets in the future."

Currently, the supporting programme at five forums is still in place, and will be adapted and transferred "as far as possible" to the April date.