LABELEXPO Asia, the Asia (Shanghai) International Label Printing Exhibition

From December 2 to 5, 2025, the 11th Labelexpo Asia—the Asia International Label Printing Exhibition—was successfully held in Halls E1–E4 of the Shanghai New International Expo Center. This edition of the show was themed “Innovation-Driven, Empowering Printing,” organized by Tarsus Group of the United Kingdom, and marked the annual highlight of the Asian label printing industry.

In terms of scale, the exhibition covered 40,000 square meters, with the addition of Hall E4—an expansion of 8,000 square meters—bringing together over 450 exhibitors from around the globe. It attracted 30,560 professional visitors from 114 countries and regions, representing a 14% increase in attendance compared to the previous edition and setting a new record. Exhibits spanned the entire value chain, including digital printing, hybrid printing, wide-format flexographic and offset printing, intelligent prepress–printing–postpress integrated systems, as well as sustainable and environmentally friendly inks, adhesives, and pressure-sensitive materials.

This year’s event featured numerous highlights, with the Smart Label Journey and the Sustainable Digital Flexible Packaging Factory emerging as central attractions. The “Smart Label Journey” adopted an innovative multi‑pronged approach—combining dedicated exhibit zones, scenario‑based demonstrations, and high‑level forums—to delve deeply into the innovation and application of RFID smart labels, showcasing products, technologies, and services covering the entire RFID label manufacturing process. Meanwhile, the “Sustainable Digital Flexible Packaging Factory” provided a comprehensive digital production line for flexible packaging bags, from printing and lamination to bag forming, with the HP Indigo 200K serving as the core printing equipment, vividly illustrating the mature application of digital printing in the flexible packaging sector.

World‑class technologies made their debut, drawing significant attention to groundbreaking innovations. Sacon unveiled its subscription‑based printing machine solution for the first time in the Asia‑Pacific market, enabling small and medium‑sized printers to upgrade their capacity flexibly without substantial upfront investment. The HP Indigo 6K+ and Indigo 200K digital presses also debuted in the Asia‑Pacific region. Weigang Technology presented its “Traditional + Digital” dual‑track product matrix strategy, seamlessly integrating high‑speed, precision digital equipment with stable, efficient traditional flexographic printing to deliver intelligent printing solutions tailored to diverse applications. Tongyin Inkjet Technology brought its Label Smart series, Label Ultra series, and the portable digital printing platform Falcon, with the Label Smart series designed specifically for the digital transformation of small and medium‑sized printers, while the Label Ultra series achieves natural, smooth color transitions at a high resolution of 1200×1200 dpi.

A rich array of concurrent events created a premier platform for industry exchange. During the exhibition, two masterclasses were held under the Label Academy, focusing on “Pressure-Sensitive Label Materials” and “Digital Printing”; a joint forum with the China Beauty Expo titled “Beauty Label Packaging Forum”; and a co‑hosted “2025 Label Forum” with the China Packaging Federation. Additionally, the RAIN Alliance organized a “RAIN Coding Masterclass,” teaching standard‑compliant data encoding methods. The second China Label Industry Awards Ceremony took place on the day following the exhibition, honoring innovative achievements such as Zhengmei Group’s water‑activated release coating and Avery Dennison’s rCrush Barley FSC® label paper.

The level of international participation reached a record high, bringing together buyers from around the world. The event attracted professional buyers from 114 countries and regions, with overseas attendance significantly up from the previous edition. For the first time, a “Global Connection Center”—a dedicated zone for matching overseas buyers—was established, providing an exclusive VIP business hub for international purchasers and facilitating precise supply‑demand alignment.

Sustainability remained a guiding principle throughout the event. A series of concrete measures enhanced environmental performance: specially designated recycling bins were set up to handle various types of waste, including ink residues from exhibitors; all exhibition hall carpets were recycled, totaling 19,558 square meters that avoided landfill disposal; and LED screens were extensively used for signage throughout the venue, with all physical guideboards subsequently recycled after the event.

Attendees agreed that the Asia International Label Printing Exhibition is not only an excellent platform for brand exposure and commercial matchmaking but also a critical hub for gaining insights into Asian label trends and exploring pathways toward digital and green transformations.

In 2027, the exhibition will relaunch under the new brand “LOUPE Asia International Label and Packaging Printing Exhibition,” scheduled to take place from November 30 to December 3 at the Shanghai New International Expo Center. The new brand will continue to focus on the label sector while expanding its scope to encompass the entire packaging printing value chain, including emerging areas such as flexible packaging and folding cartons. The exhibition will remain committed to building an efficient platform for global exchange and collaboration within the label and packaging printing industries.