Economic Heartbeat: The Big Cities Still Dominate

Although the exhibition industry is strong in many regions and markets throughout China, its two principal cities - Beijing and Shanghai - remain the bulwark of economic activity, particularly now as the world's attention begins to focus on next year's Summer Olympics.

Most cities covet the Olympic Games and go to great lengths to land them because the publicity and prestige is priceless. Although the event isn't always the cash cow cities hope for, Beijing, the site of next year's Summer Games, still has high hopes.

"Many in the industry hope that the international spotlight that will be thrown on the city by the Olympics will encourage new events to come there after the Games are over in the second half of 2008," said Paul Woodward, principal of Business Strategies Group and manager of the Asia/Pacific office of UFI — the Global Assn. of the Exhibition Industry.

Venues have been an obstacle for the growth of the tradeshow industry in Beijing, China's capital and second-largest city with a population of 15 million. According to Woodward, the city would like a bigger piece of the tradeshow action going on elsewhere in China, but the space available in its exhibition facilities for major shows is limited.

Despite this, Beijing is still one of China's key exhibition cities, along with Shanghai and Guangzhou. The China Intl. Exhibition Centre, owned and managed by the China Council for the Promotion of Intl. Trade, dominates Beijing's exhibition scene. The facility is located in the city's northeastern section, about six miles from downtown and 12 miles from the airport. There are more than 20 hotels in the surrounding area.

Since the CIEC is small compared with other Chinese exhibit halls — 53,000 square meters (570,500 square feet) of exhibit space — the owners are building a new venue, to be called the New CIEC. It is scheduled for completion before the Olympics begin next August.

According to Michael Duck, senior vice president of CMP Asia, the New CIEC, halfway between central Beijing and the new airport, will be a mega-center, with more than 100,000 sq. m. (1 million sq. ft.) of space.

"This will give Beijing a new lease on life for larger shows that will surely grow in this important city," Duck said.

Industries such as telecommunications, which require cooperation from the Chinese government, do particularly well with tradeshows at the existing CIEC, Woodward said.

Beijing also is home to the China World Exhibition Centre, which offers 8,300 sq. m. (89,300 sq. ft.) of exhibit space.

Duck said that until about 10 years ago Beijing was the traditional center for tradeshows because all major commercial decisions were made there by the centralized government. The major exception to that rule was the Canton Trade Fair, China's largest exhibition by far, held in Guangzhou.

"Beijing lost the mantle over this period as other cities in China shone through with bright new venues," Duck said, referring to Shanghai, Xiamen, Suzhou and Guangzhou.

However, Beijing is now experiencing a renaissance of sorts, partly because of the Olympics, but also because the city has become a hub of economic activity, even without its close proximity to high government officials.

Shanghai is China's largest city, with a population estimated at between 18 and 20 million. In the past 10 years, it has grown into one of China's most important exhibition hubs.

Much of that growth can be attributed to the city's enormous infrastructure developments, such as a new international airport, business district (Pudong), and retail and tourism elements that include an abundance of five- and six-star hotels.

"Above all, the five smaller Shanghai exhibition venues were augmented five years ago by the Shanghai New Intl. Expo Centre in Pudong, which offers 99,000 square meters (about 1 million square feet) of gross exhibition space," Duck said.

SNIEC has nine exhibit halls and an additional 100,000 sq. m. (1.1 million sq. ft.) of outdoor exhibit space.

A large number of new service contracting companies and freight forwarders have helped Shanghai's exhibition industry by raising service standards to a level exhibitors from the United States and Europe are accustomed to. Still, there are challenges.

"The lack of experienced personnel is probably one of the main drawbacks for companies setting up in Shanghai," Duck said.

Another challenge is the availability of space. There are several other venues besides SNIEC:

• Intex Shanghai, with 11,900 sq. m. (128,000 sq. ft.)
• Shanghai Automobile Exhibition Centre, 31,890 sq. m. (343,200 sq. ft.)
• Shanghai Exhibition Centre, 22,000 sq. m. (236,800 sq. ft.)
• Shanghai Intl. Convention Centre, 2,750 sq. m. (29,600 sq. ft.)

Despite that, space remains at a premium during peak times, and organizers can encounter problems when launching new events, said Woodward.

A bigger SNIEC should help. Duck said, "In two to three years, SNIEC will grow to 187,000 sq. m. (almost 2 million sq. ft.), plus a large convention hall and luxury hotel on site."

The facility dominates the local industry, with its capacity for major exhibitions, Woodward said.

Jointly owned by Deutsche Messe, Messe Duesseldorf, Messe Muenchen and the Chinese government's Shanghai Lujiazui Development, SNIEC hosts some of the largest fairs, including CMP Asia's Furniture China, Messe Muenchen's bauma China and IMAG's Auto Shanghai.