Dated 22 July 2003

With support from the industry Messe Dusseldorf organizes and international pipe and tube trade fair in Shanghai:

Dusseldorf, 23.7.2003

Tube China 2004 will open its doors from 22 to 25 September 2004 in the Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC). Together with its subsidiary Messe Dusseldorf China Let., Messe Dusseldorf GmbH will launch a tube and pipe trade fair onto their growing Chinese market. This marks another step in the trade fair company's strategy of positioning offshoots of it No.1 Dusseldorf fairs in expanding global markets. The increasing importance of the Chinese market for the global tube industry was underscored in the spring of 2003 by the arrival in Beijing and Shanghai of high-ranking trade delegations. Talks were held with representatives from the Chinese government and industry that concluded in a cooperation agreement.

Tube China 2004 will enjoy the support of the International Tube Association (ITA) and the Metallurgical Council of CCPIT, which has taken on the role of co-organizer, as well as other prominent Chinese associations from the industry. Decisive factors that swung the associations' decision were the first-class SNIEC fairgrounds in Pudong with its state-of-the-art technology, the good infrastructure and favorable dates-the concurrent staging of wire China 2004 is expected to produce additional synergies. The event is also assured a broad international profile by Messe Dusseldorf GmbH's worldwide network. The trade fair company has a presence in over 90 countries thanks to its foreign representative offices and subsidiaries. Germany, Austria, France, Italy and the USA have already confirmed their country's official participation in Wire/Tube China 2004.