During the first week of November, the Snowball / Finnish-Chinese Design Industry event in Shanghai brought together a large number of Finnish designers and design agencies interested in the Chinese market and members of the Chinese design community.
The three-day event was constructed around a design seminar with an additional programme. Snowball Shanghai surveyed the current state of the Chinese design market and the transformation of China from the "factory of the world" into a nation investing efforts and resources in design, in addition to presenting the strengths of Finnish design to the Chinese participants.
The speakers at Snowball Shanghai included a wide range of Finnish and Chinese designers, university and design school faculty and representatives of the building and development industry. Evening functions provided contacts and meetings with the Chinese design, cultural and economic media.
Snowball Shanghai was part of a longer process seeking to establish contacts between Finnish and Chinese actors of the design industry, improve the business opportunities of Finnish companies, and to generate added exposure for Finnish design in China. While China is a suitable focus because of Word Expo 2010, which will open in Shanghai next spring, Asia in general with its growing consumer groups interested in Western design skills and products is also an important market area.
Snowball / Finnish-Chinese Design Industry was the second part of the series of Snowball events for cultural-industry professionals in connection with World Expo 2010. The first Snowball, an export event for professionals in the music industry was held in June. The design-themed Snowball was jointly realized by Design Forum Finland, Finpro/Finland at World Expo 2010 Shanghai China, Greater Helsinki Promotion and Lychee Productions. The Consulate General of Finland in Shanghai and the Finnish Embassy in Beijing also participated in making the event possible, along with Finland's Ministry of Employment and the Economy, Ministry of Education and Ministry for Foreign Affairs.