EuroTier exhibitors urge organizers to monitor “Chinese corporate espionage”

Several exhibitors at the recent EuroTier Show in Germany say they are concerned about “spying by Chinese companies” at the event.

EuroTier is the “world’s leading trade show for professional livestock” held every two years in Hannover, Germany.

The 2024 event, which took place from November 12 to 15, welcomed 2,193 exhibitors from 51 countries, as well as around 120,000 visitors from 149 countries.

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Exhibition organizer DLG, the German Agricultural Society, also organizes Agritechnica, “the world’s leading trade fair for agricultural machinery”, held every November.

During both of these events, exhibitors launch new machinery, equipment and technologies and present their latest concepts to give visitors, mainly farmers, an idea of ​​the technology they can expect in the future.

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Obviously, any new conceptual ideas are submitted at the manufacturer’s sole discretion for copyright or design patent purposes.

CONCERNING BEHAVIOR

However, it seems that at EuroTier this year, some exhibitors made exceptions for some Asian visitors at their stands who took “endless photos of every inch of the machines”.

Indeed, some exhibitors said they were “disappointed” by the number of times they saw Chinese visitors at their stand taking pictures, classifying it as a form of “corporate espionage”.

EuroTier also had several Asian exhibitors showcasing goods and services, many of which only had product photos on their booth walls.

In one particular case, a prominent EuroTier exhibitor saw a product very similar to his at a Chinese exhibitor’s stand, along with posters showing a farm with the product installed.

The exhibitor, who prefers to remain anonymous, said he approached the Chinese exhibitor and asked them to remove the product from the stand and remove the posters because it was clearly his products.

The exhibitor said: “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Another exhibitor’s booth clearly had my product and the posters we believed were my products on a farm in my country.

“After I explained this to another exhibitor, he promptly removed the product and posters from his booth without any objection.

“I have reported this incident to the DLG and hope they can monitor these events in the future.”

Another exhibitor, who shows machinery at both Agritechnica and EuroTier, also expressed concerns, particularly over last year’s Agritechnica.

He said that one morning when staff arrived to open the stand, there were several Asian visitors waiting for them. When the stand was open they went in and took lots of pictures of the new machines being launched.

Both exhibitors and others emphasized that this is not the behavior of all Asian visitors and exhibitors, but that it is becoming “common practice” and is “very concerning.”

They all said that their investment in the cost of the booth was significant and that DLG should monitor this behavior and take action if necessary.

PROTECTION OF PARTICIPANTS

DLG was quick to reassure exhibitors that there are certain protocols in place to help them with such behavior.

EuroTier Project Manager Ines Rathke said: “DLG aims to balance an open, innovative environment with robust protection for exhibitors.

“Concerns about unauthorized photography and potential plagiarism at EuroTier are taken very seriously by DLG. Any company exhibiting at DLG exhibitions is informed of the photography policy on the exhibition grounds.

“There are clear rules in place to regulate photography and protect exhibitors’ intellectual property. If a company suspects unauthorized activity, it has access to legal support.

“On-site security and DLG representatives, as well as legal counsel, are available to handle such cases expeditiously,” she said.