Editor's note:

Chengdu, capital of China's southwestern Sichuan Province, is renowned as being the home of the panda, plus much more besides. Next year, the city will host the prestigious Fortune Global Forum, acknowledging Chengdu's growing reputation as a major business center. Much of this success can be attributed to the city's fast growth "can-do" attitude, together with its relaxed lifestyle. It's a combination proving every bit as appealing as Chengdu's cute black and white natives.

Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, is seeking to advance its economic development by promoting itself as a major exhibition and convention center in the country's interior.

"As the regional economic center of western China, Chengdu sees its exhibition and convention industry as a necessary function of a big international city," said Wang Xin, deputy director of the Chengdu Bureau of Exposition.

Exhibitions and conventions have always been allied to the development of manufacturing industries. A high-level exhibition or meeting can help introduce new technology and accelerate industrial modernization, Wang said.

At the same time, an exhibition or convention attracts huge crowds, which have a knock-on effect for tourism and cultural activities.

In the first three quarters of this year, Chengdu hosted 116 exhibitions, 184 festivities and 13,206 forums - 54 of them at an international level. More than 54 million people participated in the activities.

Some of the conventions and exhibitions this year have been noteworthy. The 9th World Biomaterials Congress, held in Chengdu in June, was the first time the event was staged in a developing country in the group's 32-year history.

Among other events were the Global Automotive Forum, the Global Investment Summit, the EU-China Business and Technology Cooperation Fair, the Education Forum for Asian and the Chinese National Food, Wine and Spirits Fair.

Tailored services

Facilities to accommodate the increasing number of events have proliferated. The Chengdu Century City International Exhibition Center, which started operation in 2005, has nine exhibition halls covering 110,000 square meters. It can provide venues for large-scale exhibitions with comprehensive and tailored services.

As a result, Chengdu started the construction of the Western China International Expo Center in September. The 20 billion yuan (US$3.2 billion) facility will cover 400,000 square meters, and its first phase is scheduled to be completed in 2015.

The Exhibition & Travel Group in Chengdu is confident about the city's good prospects.

"Chengdu's exhibition and convention industry is still in a period of fast development and has a huge potential," said Xia Jun, vice general manager of Chengdu Century City New International Exhibition & Convention Center under the Exhibition & Travel Group. "The overall environment caters to the growth of this industry, and the government is especially supportive."

Xia said government officials in the Chengdu Bureau of Exposition are remarkably hard-working and attentive to the needs of the industry.

"They often work overtime when a big event takes place in Chengdu," she said. "The bureau coordinates public security, fire safety, food monitoring, transportation, marketing, quality control, intellectual property protection and other relevant government services."

Thanks to the efforts of the bureau, which provides one-stop services, the exhibition and convention business in Chengdu is relatively free of red tape.

Exhibition & Travel itself employs more than 15,000 staff and is a comprehensive services provider for the convention and related hospitality industry.

Zhou Kui, chief of the information and publicity division of the city bureau, is one example of how the government takes an active role in promoting the industry.

In 2010 when Shanghai hosted the World Expo, Zhou and her colleagues rented a room close to the Expo site, with the aim of gaining first-hand knowledge of the best practices in receiving and coordinating exhibitors.

"Compared with Shanghai, Chengdu is still lagging behind in many ways," Zhou said. "We are eager to learn."

But Chengdu is catching up quickly.

In 2011, Chengdu organized 398 exhibitions and conventions, ranking fifth in China after Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

In the first three quarters of this year, direct income from Chengdu's exhibition industry expanded 28 percent to 3.45 billion yuan and contributed up to 30.2 billion yuan in related consumption.

The strength of the industry mirrors the success of the city, where gross domestic in the first half of this year expanded 13.3 percent from a year earlier, exceeding the national average of 7.8 percent and ranking it among the fastest growing urban areas of its size.

By 2015, Chengdu aims to host more than 500 exhibitions and conventions a year. Direct income from those activities is expected to rise to 10 billion yuan, with indirect income of up to 80 billion yuan.

Next year, the prestigious Fortune Global Forum and the World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention will be held in the city, adding to its convention credentials.

Highest level

"Both events are of the highest level and will have top leaders in attendance," said the bureau's deputy director Wang. "Chengdu will be prepared to show itself off as one of the best cities in the world."

Two main factors are considered key to the development of an exhibition and convention industry: facilities and professionals.

The bricks and mortar side is the easiest. Training qualified professional teams to work within the industry is much more difficult.

Li Jun, a young entrepreneur in Chengdu's exhibition and convention industry, symbolized the type of person in demand.

Now general manager of Link Share Public Relations, Li has developed a team of nearly 20 people. It draws on a list of suppliers capable of meeting the requirements of servicing a high-level exhibition or convention, such as the Western China International Fair or the Global Automotive Forum.

Starting as an arranger of fair booths in 2005, Li's team grew quickly. It is now involved in designing, marketing and organizing exhibitions. This year, the company participated in the organization of nearly all the important events on Chengdu's exhibition and convention calendar.

"Although my company remains relatively small, we have big dreams, and Chengdu provides a fair and transparent platform that allows us to expand," Li said.

Exhibitors used to bring their own teams from Beijing or Shanghai to Chengdu to organize their participation in events. Nowadays, they are increasingly turning to service providers in Chengdu because of their competence and competitiveness, said Zhou, the chief of the information and publicity division of the Chengdu Bureau of Exposition.