The 13th International IC-China Conference & Exhibition (IIC-China) opened at Shanghai Mart yesterday. IIC-China is mainland China's largest systems design event featuring over 1,400 booths in Chengdu, Shenzhen, Beijing and Shanghai – up by 37 percent from 2007.

Shanghai is the final stop for IIC-China 2008's four-city tour, showcasing the latest products and solutions from some of the world’s top technology companies. Exhibitors include Analog Devices, Atmel, CEVA, Fairchild, Intersil, Microsoft, NEC, Numonyx, Renesas, Samsung, Semtech, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, Vishay and Zetex.

Building on a successful debut in Shenzhen in 2007, IIC-China expands its Components Pavilion to Shanghai this year. The Pavilion showcased the latest passive and electromechanical technologies from international and mainland China component manufacturers. Exhibitors at the Components Pavilion include Daiwa Manufacturing, Hoi Po Industrial, Jimson Electronics, Just Make Electronics, Kuantech, Na Bob Precision Metal, Pro-An Electronics, Salecom Electronics, Shenzhen G-Link Digital Technology, Technik Industrial and Shenzhen Top-touch Electronic.

Mark A. Saunderson, President of Global Sources' Electronics Business Unit, said:"IIC-China is a golden opportunity for leading technology providers to showcase their products and meet face-to-face with the engineers driving original design in mainland China. It is also the only event where design engineers, technical and procurement managers can find, learn about and compare the latest IC applications, embedded and EDA technologies."

It was revealed that IIC-China will be held twice in 2009 - spring and fall - at seven venues across six cities. In addition to Shenzhen, Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai, it will be expanded to Wuhan and Xi’an.

Sources from the industry said China's IC market saw a strong growth in 2007, hitting 562.37 billion, up 18.6 percent year on year. But, in 2008, the growth of China's IC market will reach its peak as the Beijing Olympic Games is set to offer enormous business opportunities. IC applications like digital TV and 3G will push up market demands to record levels.