Coronavirus outbreak leads to long delays, cancellation of shows across the world

With China and different parts of the world reeling from the coronavirus outbreak, numerous trade fairs and conferences in China got postponed or shelved, potentially causing a loss of billions of dollars. A few of the events were Taipei International Book Exhibition, Singapore Airshow, Mobile world congress etc.

Taipei International book exhibition

Considered to be Taiwan's prestigious and biggest literary event, it was to be held from February 4-February 9. It was postponed to May 7-12. It is a book fair organised by the Taipei Book Fair Foundation and supervised by the Government Information Office. It was established on 15 December 1987 at the National Central Library and focused on distribution and copyright negotiations between international publishers. 

Singapore Airshow

The 2020 edition was conducted from February 11-16 but the aviation leader summit was shelved due to the outbreak of the disease. The show went ahead based on its schedule but on a much small scale.

Mobile World Congress (MWC)

Organisers of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) on February 12 said that they had shelved this year's event amid fears arising due to the coronavirus outbreak. According to reports, the announcement came after the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM Association) had a meeting to decide if the MWC should be conducted or not. The event was supposed to be conducted in Barcelona, Spain from February 24-27.

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Food and Hotel Asia

The biennial trade show was to be held from March 3-6 but the organisers postponed its first leg to the month of July 2020. The event brings together the most extensive line-up of innovative hospitality products and smart technologies from across the globe for the fast-growing demands of Asia's food and hospitality industry.

15th JCI Spring conference

The semi-annual conference was to be held from March 26-27 but was postponed until late May 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak. It is a semi-annual conference comprising of major traders, feed producers and livestock farmers.

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The death toll from China's novel coronavirus epidemic surpassed 1,700 after 100 more people died in the country's Hubei province. As per the Chinese government, the new death toll now stands at 1765. At least 70,400 people have now been infected nationwide in China, with most cases being recorded in Hubei, where the virus first emerged in December.

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