“The convention and exhibition industry has become an important carrier for promoting high-level opening up to the outside world, and it is a key link in ensuring the development of the real economy and perfecting the service industry, and at present, the service industry and trade in services have become the focus of a new round of high-level opening up.” The former deputy representative of China International Trade Negotiations of the Ministry of Commerce and the president of China World Trade Organization Research Association, Chong Quan, said at the 2024 China Conference and Exhibition Industry Annual Meeting - Conference and Exhibition Industry Ecological Development (Nanjing) Conference (hereinafter referred to as “China Conference and Exhibition Industry Annual Meeting”).

With the theme of “Gathering Traction Functions and Creating New Quality Ecology”, this year's China Convention and Exhibition Industry Annual Conference focuses on the integration and development of the convention and exhibition industry with the city, and explores the market potential.

So far this year, the performance of convention and exhibition in some cities has been better than expected. According to incomplete statistics, from January to September 2024, 210 economic and trade exhibitions were held in Guangzhou's professional venues, up 12.9% from the same period in 2019, with an exhibition area of 8,192,600 square meters, an increase of 10.94% year-on-year; Shanghai's professional venues hosted about 370 exhibition events, with an exhibition area of more than 15 million square meters; and 140 exhibitions of various types were held in Shenzhen, with an exhibition area of more than 5 million square meters. 5 million square meters.

“A series of international national-level major exhibitions, such as the Canton Fair, the Trade in Services Fair, the Digital Expo, and the Fair for Import and Export, have been held successively this year, highlighting the display of new-quality productivity.” Qu Weixi, vice president of the International Trade and Economic Cooperation Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce and president of the China Convention and Exhibition Economy Research Association, said that localities should cultivate high-quality exhibition brands that meet their own industrial development needs and effectively enhance new quality productivity according to their local conditions, and build a higher level of open convention and exhibition platforms, so as to enhance their radiation and driving effect.

At the same time, some cities have introduced and continued to improve the supportive policies for the convention and exhibition industry to promote the sustainable development under the integration and innovation of convention and exhibition and industry in the context of promoting the high-quality development of the convention and exhibition industry with the new quality productivity. For example, Nanjing has issued the “Two-year Action Plan for the High-Quality Development of Nanjing Convention and Exhibition Industry (2024-2025)” (hereinafter referred to as the “Action Plan”), which emphasizes the development of new productivity in accordance with local conditions and promotes the plan of “one industrial cluster and one brand exhibition” to accelerate the high-quality development of Nanjing's convention and exhibition industry. Development.

Liang Jie, President of Nanjing Council for the Promotion of International Trade (NCPIT), said that according to the Action Plan, Nanjing will accelerate the regularization of “one industrial cluster, one brand exhibition”, incubate, cultivate and grow professional exhibition projects in line with Nanjing's advanced manufacturing and modern service industries, promote the deep integration of exhibition and industry, and form a new ecology of exhibition and industry development with upstream and downstream linkage and integration of the whole industry chain. The new ecology of exhibition and industry development will be formed by integrating upstream and downstream and the whole industrial chain. At the same time, Nanjing accelerates the synergistic development of exhibitors, culture and tourism, utilizes the exhibition resources of Nanjing's characteristic culture, commerce, tourism, sports and recreation, gives play to the mutual driving effect of meetings, exhibitions, festivals, performances and competitions, promotes close cooperation between convention and exhibition halls and commercial complexes, e-commerce platforms and cultural and sports venues, establishes a pattern of fusion of the three circles of the commerce and trade business circle, cultural and sports business circle and exhibition business circle, and accelerates the promotion of the integration of exhibition and city.

In recent years, in order to further play the unique platform role of Nanjing's conference and exhibition industry in strengthening the industrial chain supply chain innovation chain, integrating the modern industrial system and the innovative development of service trade, Nanjing has accelerated the transformation and upgrading of the conference and exhibition industry, and enhanced the attractiveness and competitiveness of the conference and exhibition market. According to the “2023 Chinese City Conference and Exhibition Industry Competitiveness Index Report”, Nanjing ranked sixth in the city and third in the sub-provincial cities.

Not only has Nanjing introduced new policies, but cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen and Sanya have also increased their support for the convention and exhibition industry. Several Measures on Enhancing the Driving Effect of the City's Convention and Exhibition Economy” issued by Shanghai encourages the introduction of new exhibitions, expanding the scale effect, and supporting the enhancement of quality and efficiency; ‘Three-Year Action Plan for High-Quality Development of Modern Convention and Exhibition Industry Chain in Guangzhou (2024-2026)’ issued by Guangzhou explicitly puts forward the idea of further accelerating the promotion of exhibition-industry fusion, and in accordance with the adherence to the industry-first and The city of manufacturing industry, accelerate the construction of a modernized industrial system, provide intellectual support for industrial development in the form of “exhibition + meeting”, encourage upgrading and breakthroughs in traditional theme exhibitions, adjust the structure, optimize the layout, and build “one industry chain and one professional exhibition” around the city's key industry chain, attract more visitors and increase the efficiency of the exhibition industry. To build “one industry chain and one specialized exhibition” around the city's key industry chain, attract more high-quality enterprises to build together, and attract more enterprises in niche fields to participate in the exhibition.

In the view of industry insiders, China's conference and exhibition industry is promoting the transformation and upgrading of the industry through digital and intellectual innovation, and actively building a new ecology of conference and exhibition.

Chongquan said that the exhibition economy is an important force to promote economic and trade development, and plays an indispensable and positive role in promoting regional economic development, enhancing the image and popularity of cities, driving related industries, facilitating the dissemination of information and technology, and promoting international exchanges and cooperation.

In response to the accelerated innovation of China's exhibition industry, Marsha Flanagan, President and CEO of the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE), said that the global exhibition industry is in the midst of changes in digital transformation and sustainable practices.