Do you have knowledge to share with Chinese petfood manufacturers?

China is sometimes compared to the Wild, Wild West of US history for its seeming approach of "anything goes" in terms of safety, law and intellectual property. Yet no one can deny its staggering growth, including in the pet market.

There are already 150 million registered pets in China (the same number of cats and dogs owned in the US, by the way) and possibly many more unregistered. Yet only 2% of Chinese pets are fed commercial petfood. And the country is rapidly urbanizing, with 70% of the population expected to live in urban areas within the next 40 years, according to Euromonitor. Urbanization often leads to rising incomes and increasing pet ownership.

China seems ripe for growth in petfood; in fact, Euromonitor projects it to be the seventh fastest-growing petfood market globally by 2015 (though from a tiny base, reaching only US$476 million in sales by then).

So, do you have plan to get in on the ground floor of this explosively growing market? And do you have knowledge or insights for petfood manufacturers looking to make their mark there -- or for manufacturers in China seeking to export petfood products?

If so, you might be a candidate to speak at Petfood Forum China 2012. Scheduled for October 12 in Shanghai, in conjunction with the 15th Pet Fair Asia (which itself has experienced robust growth), this conference will be a first in China and is seeking knowledgeable petfood industry experts as speakers. Check out the call for papers and consider submitting an abstract by April 9.