The Pet Industry Came to Shanghai in Record Numbers

Pet Fair Asia 2026 turned Shanghai into one of the world's biggest meeting points for the pet business, with record international participation, 2,600+ exhibitors and a trade programme increasingly built around doing business, not just displaying products.

by Archie Marshall ||

There are trade shows that fill exhibition halls. Then there are trade shows that make you realise an entire industry has changed. Pet Fair Asia 2026 firmly belongs in the second category.

The 28th edition, held in Shanghai from 19–23 August, occupied 320,000 square metres and brought together more than 2,600 exhibitors and 130,000+ professional visitors. The final two public days added more than 400,000 pet lovers. But the headline figure is not simply the size. International visitation was up 23%, with professionals arriving from 102 countries signifying the highest international participation in the show's history.

That tells us something important about where the pet industry is moving. Shanghai is becoming a place where Asian growth, Chinese manufacturing and international brands increasingly meet.

A trade show built around business

Pet Fair Asia has always been enormous. This year, however, the organisers put considerably more effort into making that scale commercially useful.

For the first time, opening day became a dedicated VIP B2B Day, combining international visitors and invited Chinese professionals with more than 60 Chinese buyer groups organised through partners and industry stakeholders. Another 100 selected buyers from 22 countries were brought into the programme, alongside delegations from Brazil, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.

The difference was clearly visible on the exhibition floor. Visitor screening, targeted matchmaking and guided tours were used to create a more focused environment for negotiations and buyer exhibitor meetings.

The Brazilian delegation, organised by China Vet Connection, was one example. Marco Gioso, who organised the delegation, said:

“Pet Fair Asia was an extraordinary experience for the entire group. We were deeply impressed by the scale, organization, innovation, and quality of the show. It was an unforgettable experience, and we return to Brazil inspired, with new ideas, new connections, and an even stronger desire to build bridges between Brazil and China. Many are asking for the next one."

That is a more useful measure of a trade show's success than visitor numbers alone. Did the right people actually find each other? The answer increasingly appears to be yes.

The international brands are coming back with new ones joining

International exhibitors accounted for 20% of the show, representing 32 countries outside China.

The national pavilions gave that international presence a particularly visible identity. South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, the USA and Poland returned with larger pavilions, while Canada returned after a six year absence. Thailand made its debut.

The Thailand Pavilion was more than a symbolic appearance. Thailand is the world's second largest exporter of pet food, while China is an extremely important trading partner. For Thai producers, Shanghai offers access not only to Chinese buyers but to an international audience already looking towards Asia.

At the inauguration of the Thailand Pavilion, H.E. Mr. Watcharaphon Khaokham, Thailand's Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, said:

“Thailand is currently the world’s second-largest exporter of pet food and China is an extremely important trading partner. The Thailand pavilion at Pet Fair Asia provides an excellent opportunity to showcase Thailand’s potential, quality, standards, creativity, and our commitment to being a trustworthy producer. It also serves as a platform for business expansion and the establishment of new partnerships, marking an important step towards the stable and sustainable growth of Thailand’s pet food industry,”

The same logic works in reverse. Chinese and wider Asian companies increasingly want international distribution, while Western and other international brands want access to China's enormous and increasingly premium pet market.

Pet Fair Asia sits directly in the middle of that exchange.

China is becoming more than the factory

Perhaps the most interesting story on the show floor was not simply what was being sold, but who was developing it.

China remains one of the world's most important pet product manufacturing centres. Yet, Chinese companies are increasingly moving away from being anonymous suppliers for other brands and towards building their own products and consumer brands.

The new World Debut platform made that shift particularly obvious, showcasing more than 100 products being launched for the first time.

Among the companies demonstrating this change was Petkit. The Chinese brand presented its AI-powered connected pet care ecosystem and introduced a new water fountain designed to separate clean and waste water.

Smart technology is moving into ordinary pet care routines: feeding, hydration, monitoring and home management. And Chinese companies are increasingly developing these products themselves rather than simply manufacturing them for somebody else.

That makes Pet Fair Asia interesting for international buyers for a different reason: you are not only discovering what can be sourced in China. You are seeing what Chinese companies think pet owners will want next.

80+ events: The product catalogue is only half the story

With more than 2,600 exhibitors, nobody can realistically see everything at Pet Fair Asia. That is why the knowledge programme matters.

More than 80 summits, forums and themed events ran alongside the exhibition. The International Pet Industry Summit (IPIS) , ASEAN CEO Summit, held before the show itself, brought together 25 speakers and 760 delegates.

The strong attendance shows that companies are looking for more than products. They want to understand markets, consumer behaviour, regulation, technology and where demand is heading. For an industry expanding across borders at this speed, that intelligence can be as valuable as a new supplier.

The numbers paint a bigger picture

Put the staggering attendance statistics together and a pattern emerges.

International attendance is growing faster. Southeast Asia and South America are becoming more prominent. Established Western markets are still increasing. National pavilions are returning or appearing for the first time. Chinese manufacturers are building brands. AI and connected products are moving from novelty into everyday pet care.

And the show itself is responding by becoming more targeted towards international B2B trade.

That combination makes Pet Fair Asia more than a huge annual marketplace. It is becoming a useful indicator of where the global pet business is putting its attention.

For brands looking for Asian growth, Chinese companies looking to internationalise and buyers searching for the next generation of pet products, that makes Shanghai a difficult place to ignore.

Shanghai is not the only stop

The next Pet Fair Asia will return to the Shanghai New International Expo Centre from 18–22 August 2027.

But the organisers are also expanding the network around it. Pet Fair Southeast Asia in Bangkok, Pet Fair South China in Guangzhou and Pet Fair Beijing will continue connecting businesses with the region's individual markets.

And in April 2027, Pet Fair Asia will debut at Shanghai's West Bund Dome, focusing on premium pet products, niche and cross-industry brands and solutions around human–pet living.

The direction is clear: rather than concentrating everything into one giant annual exhibition, the network is building multiple points of entry into Asia's pet markets.