The Organizers of The 10th International Exhibition on Textile Industry (ShanghaiTex 2003) and Shanghai International Techtextiles, Nonwovens, and Machinery Exhibition (SITNE 2003) to be held from June 2-5, 2003 at Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC), Pudong, Shanghai, PR China announce that the shows will be postponed to December 10 - 13, 2003 at the same venue.

Owing to the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in China, the Shanghai Municipal Government has issued a directive on eight strict measures to stop the spreading of SARS disease on April 23. While the Foreign Economic Relations & Trade Commission of Shanghai has issued an urgent notice on April 24 restricting all organization of exhibitions in the near future, the Organizers also received a circular from SNIEC that all venues in Shanghai are not permitted to stage any events until further notice. In view of the situation, ShanghaiTex 2003 and SITNE 2003 are thus postponed accordingly.

Mr K S Tong, Managing Director of Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd, one of the organizers of ShanghaiTex 2003 and SITNE 2003 said, "This year, over 1,000 exhibitors have already confirmed their participation in ShanghaiTex 2003 and SITNE 2003. We regret that the postponement might cause inconvenience to those involved in these shows, but we assure that such act represents the best interests of all related parties. With the postponement date and venue now confirmed, we will attend to other related matters and will work closely with related parties and associations to launch new promotion campaigns so as to ensure its success. We would like to tender our sincerest thanks to everyone for their continued support and look forward to welcoming them to ShanghaiTex 2003 and SITNE 2003 in December."

Being an indispensable event of the China textile industry, ShanghaiTex 2003 and SITNE 2003 are organized by Shanghai International Exhibition Co Ltd, Shanghai Textile Technology Service & Exhibition Centre and Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd together with the textile industry bureau, associations, administration office and corporations of 13 provinces.