The 3rd Smart Lighting Expo and the 17th Hong Kong International Lighting Fair (Spring Lighting Fair), organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), concluded successfully today at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on April 23, 2026. The four-day event brought together approximately 900 exhibitors and attracted around 13,000 buyers from 114 countries and regions. The number of buyers from Asia (Malaysia and the Philippines), Europe (France, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, and Turkey), and North and South American markets (Brazil, Canada, and the United States) all saw increases, once again highlighting Hong Kong's pivotal role in the global exchange of lighting products and technologies.
Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) Vice President, Ms. Gu Jingmin, stated, “This year’s two lighting fairs not only attracted many leading companies in the industry, showcasing cutting-edge high-efficiency, smart lighting, and sustainable solutions, but also successfully gathered numerous high-quality international buyers to procure products, helping companies diversify their supply chains and explore new markets. This highlights Hong Kong’s advantages as an ‘international exhibition capital’ and an efficient business platform, making it the preferred destination for the industry to showcase its innovative strengths, connect with global buyer networks, and accelerate business expansion.”
Survey shows: Respondents are primarily optimistic about the Indian and Australian markets.
To stay abreast of the latest industry trends, the HKTDC conducted an on-site questionnaire survey during the exhibitions, interviewing 450 exhibitors and buyers. The results reflect a general increase in exhibitors’ and buyers’ confidence in future business prospects.
Market Outlook and Key Product Trends:
• 49.1% of respondents expect overall sales to increase over the next 12 to 24 months, while 47.6% expect them to remain flat.
• Respondents believe the growth prospects for lighting products in the following target markets over the next two years are ideal or very ideal: India (73.4%), Australia (71%), ASEAN countries (70.4%), and Japan (68.1%).
• Regarding market potential, the markets most frequently explored by exhibitors are the Middle East (31.8%), Europe (29.5%), ASEAN countries (23.9%), Latin America (17.6%), and North America (14.8%).
• In the area of smart lighting, respondents believe that home automation and smart lighting control systems (48.2%), energy-saving lighting control solutions (38.2%), and outdoor smart security lighting systems (31.1%) have the greatest development potential over the next two years. • Compared to traditional lighting products, respondents indicated that consumers are willing to pay an average premium of 29% for lighting products equipped with smart features.
Scenario-based displays and new exhibition areas effectively improved procurement conversion rates; business exchanges yielded ideal results.
This year's newly launched "Light and Shadow Research Institute" directly integrates lighting products into garden, sports, cultural, and artistic application scenarios through multiple scenario-based and immersive designs. Shanghai Sansi showcased its plant-clamping lighting and downlights suitable for museums at its exhibition area. Zhu Guoli, Deputy Chief Engineer, stated, "The 'Light and Shadow Research Institute' effectively enhanced product display, helping buyers quickly grasp product features and application scenarios. It successfully attracted buyers from Argentina, Canada, Germany, India, Japan, and the United States to our booth for negotiations, and we expect to generate over $1 million in orders."
This year's Smart Lighting Expo added a "Smart Commercial Display and Stage Sound and Lighting Zone," showcasing a diverse range of smart display products. Absen, an industry leader, participated for the first time. Tang Hao, Senior Sales Engineer, stated, “The new exhibition area effectively enhanced product exposure, attracting buyers from Eastern Europe, Oceania, North America, South America, and South Asia to our booth. These buyers are new clients in key industries such as cultural tourism and stage engineering. We also facilitated several promising cooperation negotiations with potential clients from the Dominican Republic, Hong Kong, and Thailand, further expanding our international market. We anticipate order value of US$930,000 from the exhibition, and riding this momentum, we have decided to participate in this year's Hong Kong International Lighting Fair (Autumn Edition).”
The newly launched “Leisure Lighting Zone” also injected new momentum into the Spring Lighting Fair. Rebecca Seo, CFO of NIZ, a South Korean exhibitor participating for the first time, stated, “The exhibition provides us with an excellent platform to connect with international buyers. We have successfully attracted international buyers from Denmark, Germany, Japan, and the United States, including a well-known Japanese home furnishing specialty store that placed an order on-site. Benefiting from the strong foot traffic brought by the new exhibition area, we expect the exhibition to bring the company up to US$70 million in orders this year.”
This year, both lighting exhibitions received strong support from Zhongshan City, which became a special partner city. Zhongshan organized delegations from Guzhen and Henglan to participate in the Smart Lighting Expo, forming the Zhongshan Smart Home Zone. This showcased the local scale and competitiveness in lighting manufacturing, assisting companies in expanding into international markets. Bairan Lighting, a large-scale enterprise in Henglan District, Zhongshan, stated through its manager Liu Xiaoxia, "These two lighting exhibitions provide Zhongshan enterprises with an efficient 'going global' window, allowing us to directly connect with buyers from Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Southeast Asia, promoting our products and brands internationally. We expect to achieve sales of US$2 million." Furthermore, during the exhibitions, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) organized its first buyer delegation to Zhongshan, inspecting several lighting companies' factories and participating in business matching meetings, comprehensively deepening exchanges and cooperation with Zhongshan's lighting industry chain. This event facilitated several substantial business cooperation intentions. Among them, New Zealand buyer Spark100 Ltd successfully established contact with a Zhongshan lighting supplier, expecting to secure a purchase order worth US$100,000 to US$300,000.
This year's exhibition also attracted buyers from the Middle East. Zhang Jie, Vice President of Sales at Tailong Electronics, representing the Shenzhen delegation, stated, "We successfully connected with a buyer from the UAE and a purchasing representative from a well-known American women's fashion brand at the exhibition. Both parties are expected to become our partners. We anticipate that this exhibition will bring in $2 million in sales for the company."
Driven by the Belt and Road Initiative, urban development in countries along the route is booming, leading to a continuous increase in local demand for high-efficiency and intelligent lighting products. Aigerim Beisekina, Supply Manager of Karelz.kz from Kazakhstan, stated, “This is our first time attending both lighting exhibitions. We are looking for reliable suppliers to provide solar-powered stadium and sports lighting solutions for three international schools under construction in Kazakhstan. Through the Click2Match business matching platform, we have identified three potential suppliers from mainland China, and plan to purchase lighting equipment worth between US$600,000 and US$900,000.”
During the two lighting exhibitions, numerous professional events were held, including the Asian Lighting Conference and the Smart Lighting Solutions Forum, inviting designers and industry representatives from different regions to share market trends, application cases, and technological developments, providing the industry with forward-looking market perspectives.
Combining Online and Offline Platforms to Extend Post-Exhibition Business Opportunities
Both lighting exhibitions continue to adopt the “Exhibition+” model. Buyers can not only purchase on-site but also continue negotiations after the exhibition through the Click2Match smart matching platform and the HKTDC Procurement platform, helping exhibitors and buyers facilitate more cooperation. The "Business-to-Business" intelligent business matching platform for both exhibitions will be open until April 30, continuing to assist exhibitors and buyers worldwide in facilitating cooperation.
