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October 16, 2015

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Home » City specials » Hangzhou

Onwards and upwards for city’s annual big event

By Wu Huixin | October 16, 2015, Friday | Print Edition

The 17th West Lake International Expo will be held from today to November 1 with 35 programs scheduled.

The theme of this year’s expo is “Quality West Lake Expo, Charming Hangzhou.” It is expected to generate 10 billion yuan (US$1.57 billion) in trade turnover, while attracting US$1 billion of foreign investment and 10 billion yuan of domestic investment. Approximately 8 million people are expected to attend.

This year’s expo is divided into four categories — international conference, information, tourism, and the cultural industry.

The international conference part will be centered around the 17th West Lake Expo International Cooperation Fair. Meanwhile, it is the first time the expo will host a World Entrepreneurship Forum.

Other high-level meetings during the expo include the 2015 New Generation Entrepreneurs Forum, 2015 China (Hangzhou) City Convention and Exhibition Development Conference, 2015 China (Hangzhou) International Leisure Industry Development Forum, and the 2015 British Financial Times Annual Summit Forum. This year, international programs account for 50 percent of all expo activities. These conventions are designed to promote Hangzhou’s internationalization strategy. As the host of the G20 Summit next year, the Hangzhou government hopes to draw experience from the international conferences taking place during the expo.

This year’s expo will stress the city’s tourism resources. A variety of events will take place under the expo umbrella including the 2015 West Lake Expo International Tourism Festival, Wushan Temple Fair, International Youth Music Festival, and the 2015 Hangzhou Gourmet Festival. The events are about promoting Hangzhou and showing international travelers what the city has to offer.

The 2015 Hangzhou Cultural and Creative Industry Expo, Asia Design Management Forum, the 3rd China International Chess Culture Expo, and the 18th West Lake Art Expo are expected to boost cultural exchanges between Hangzhou and foreign countries.

The expo involved much more than tourism, and to maximize Hangzhou’s cultural and natural resources, to promote the city image, to boost the city’s MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) industry are the aims of the West Lake Expo.

All exhibitions and conferences during this year’s expo are expected to attract investment, talents, information and capital to the city.

The Hangzhou government hopes such conferences will attract public attention to key social issues like the economy and resources. Some big names including Jeremy Rifkin, author of “The Third Industrial Revolution,” and Barbara Woodward, British ambassador to China, will attend the expo. They are expected to gain more publicity for the expo.

The city government also wants to promote the city’s conference and exhibition industry. Local authorities have encouraged foreign and domestic companies to organize MICE events at this year’s expo. For example, UK-based Financial Times is organizing the China Annual Summit Forum, while e-commerce giant Alibaba is responsible for hosting the Yunqi Conference in Yunqi Town.

The Hangzhou government hopes the West Lake Expo’s influence will attract more domestic and international conferences and exhibitions to the city. Local authorities have said they will accelerate legislative work in order to help the city develop into the country’s top conference and exhibition city.

Meanwhile, city government wants to emphasize brand building and promote the city’s internationalization strategy. This includes the city seeking opportunities to cooperate with central governmental departments. For example, this year the expo is working with the Ministry of Commerce to hold the International University Innovation and Investment Cooperation Forum.

Expo organizers this year are working with the Asian Federation of Exhibition and Convention Association, International Congress and Convention Association, and the Union of International Fairs.

World famous conference and exhibition companies have already established offices here, which has a snowball effect as they help attract more international events to the city.

Expo organizers are also working with Zhejiang University and other international educational institutions to hold forums, seminars and meetings during the event.

During the 16-day expo, the Zhejiang World Trade International Exhibition Center will be used as an exhibition pavilion with the theme “Information Economy, Smart Energy.”

The pavilion is expected to display the latest technology and the state of Hangzhou’s information economy, while showcasing the blueprint of the future smart city.

A part of the pavilion will display an exhibition about the economic parks and zones in Zhejiang Province. Visitors can learn about the cross-border e-commerce pilot zone, two provincial-level industrial cluster zones, six national industrial parks and nine industrial towns focused on helping creative companies.

For years, the West Lake Expo has been considered an event for locals. This year is no exception.

The Citizen Leisure Festival between today and Monday is expected to showcase the achievements of the city’s leisure industry and its affiliated counties. Fruit picking, tourism and food festivals will be held during the festival.

Other highlights include a flower festival, performances at Wushan Square, the West Lake Yoga Culture Festival, and the International Wine Culture Festival.

Cultural exchanges are also expected to be a big part of the expo. Performance teams from the US, Hungary and 10 other countries will perform in the city during the event. There will also be domestic performances, including one by the Miao ethnic minority group from Guizhou Province.

Add it all up and there’s pretty much something for everyone.

Hangzhou


 

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