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November 16, 2011

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Big exhibitions and Shanghai a perfect mix

"EXHIBITIONS serve as important catalysts to economic growth. We should get ourselves prepared, build better infrastructure and train more professionals because in bad times exhibitions are a valuable means to boost an underperforming economy.

The recently concluded China International Industry Fair 2011 is a good demonstration of Shanghai's strength at hosting big exhibitions.

The fair, held from November 1 to 5 at the Shanghai New International Expo Center, was spread over an area of 150,000 square meters, the largest in the event's 13-year history. It attracted 101,200 visitors, among whom 2,613 came from overseas, and deals worth more than 1 billion yuan (US$157.6 million) were clinched during the five days.

The fair was just one of many exhibitions held in Shanghai. Since the 2010 World Expo, Shanghai has taken a great step forward as a destination for exhibitions. Its growing fame and experience in coping with large groups of visitors and investment in infrastructure have raised the city's capability to host big events.

"Exhibitions serve as important catalysts to economic growth," said Sha Hailin, chairman of the Shanghai Commerce Commission. "With Shanghai aiming to become a global trading center, we should further bolster our strength in hosting exhibitions as a means to boost trade and related industries."

According to a report co-released by the Shanghai Convention and Exhibition Industry Association, each yuan (15 US cents) directly earned through exhibitions generates 9.3 yuan for relevant industries due to the large number of visitors and logistics demands.

Last year, Shanghai hosted 642 fairs that generated nearly 13 billion yuan in total, making its contribution to Shanghai's economy more than 100 billion yuan, the association said.

However, the number of international exhibitions in Shanghai dropped 4.5 percent from a year earlier to 232 last year, mainly due to an unfavorable global economic climate.

"Exhibitions are easily affected by external conditions and the performance of other sectors," Sha said. "But whatever, we should get ourselves prepared, build better infrastructure and train more professionals because in bad times exhibitions are a valuable means to boost an underperforming economy."

According to the city's Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) for the industry, Shanghai aims to double the size of its exhibition space to 15 million square meters by 2015, and devote 80 percent of the area to hosting international fairs.

Shanghai plans to invest 23 billion yuan to build the world's largest expo center in Hongqiao commercial hub. Construction has started in Qingpu District and the work on the 500,000-square-meter complex may take two years to complete.

To boost Shanghai as a global exhibition center, the city also plans to attract foreign exhibitors with supportive policies. The city also wants to increase the percentage of international exhibitors to 30 percent in the next five years.




 

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